Live in the Moment
by SophieeeeXD
Summary: Tired of being Stars Hollows Princess and being picked on by Paris and Tristan at Chilton, Rory Gilmore goes to boarding school to change. There she will meet four people who will change her life forever. Rogan.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so this is my first Gilmore Girls story, but I thought I would give it a shot since I love the show and reading other peoples fanfics on it.**

**To start off this story will be a Rogan as they are by far my favourite couple. It will start sometime near the beginning of the second season with Rory at Chilton. Paris, Louise, Madeline and Summer will still be in it and be completely horrible to her, and it is as though Tristan never went to Military school and he is still the same way with Rory. The stuff with Dean has happened but they never got back together after the scene in the scene in the Junkyard. Finally Lorelai and Max broke up and she is starting to date Christopher, and it will be as though his firm is really successful and has money. The rest is pretty self explanatory.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore girls and any of the characters in it, they all belong to their rightful owners.**

"Miss Geller, Miss Grant, Miss Lynn and Miss Gilmore, you will be focusing on the final death scene and I will put some students from my other class in your group as well"

Rory froze as Miss James began assigning another group. Out of all of the people in the class she had to be put in a group with those three, the three people who hated her guts.

She glanced back to see Paris shooting daggers at her and sighed. This was going to be a long project. They had been extra mean to her since the whole Tristan thing and she never even went to the stupid concert with him, it was hardly her fault that he wouldn't leave her alone. That of course didn't matter to Paris and she had been determined to make Rory life at Chilton complete hell until the day they all left.

As the bell rang signalling the end of the class, they were on her before she could even pick up her books.

"You better not mess this up for me Gilmore, I am going to be the director in the group and you better do exactly as I say, or I will make your miserable existence here even worse" Paris snapped, her brown eyes narrowing as she glared at Rory.

"I just want to pass the class the same as you, just lay off me for a second, would that be so hard?" Rory replied standing up herself.

"I make the rules around here, you don't tell me what to do and I will decide how I want to talk to you. If I pass this with good grades then I will be well on the way to getting in to Harvard, and I am already going to be editor of the paper next semester so you might want to start being a whole lot nicer to me"

"I have never not been nice to you!" Rory cried "You're just mad because you have got it in to your head that I have a thing going on with Tristan, which is totally ridiculous as I have never once done anything to show that. I don't even like him, he's an arrogant jerk!"

Paris looked like she was going to explode, her face was getting redder and what looked like an angry face before, was now getting ten times worse.

"Do you think she's mad?" Madeline said to Louise, watching Paris with some amusement.

"This has got nothing to do with any of that" Paris snarled "I don't care weather you and Tristan are together or not, all I care about is getting in to Harvard, and I am not letting a little goody goody like you stand in my way!"

With that she grabbed her book bag a stormed out of the room, causing a few students on their way in to the room to scatter in order to get out of her way.

"Oh yeah, she's mad" Louise replied with a smirk.

With that they went off in the direction Paris went in, their heels tapping loudly and too short skirts swaying behind them.

Rory sighed. She had just about had it with this place, but she knew she couldn't leave; it was her only chance in getting in to an Ivy League school. She had to stay. Picking up her books, she left the room and headed for the cafeteria for lunch.

* * *

><p>She sighed with relief when the last bell finally rang and she could go home. The day had passed slowly and after the incident with Paris that morning, they were all being especially horrible. She wasn't especially looking forward to Friday night dinner later, but anything was better than here.<p>

She was sad that it had become like this. School used to be a really enjoyable time for her and the day she got her letter saying that Chilton had a place had been one of the best days of her life. That had all changed when she met Paris and the rest of the girls that went there.

Rory was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice someone come up behind her until it was too late.

"Mary" a familiar voice said, making her jump as she walked to her locker. She groaned, he was just going top off the day by making it even worse.

"What do you want Tristan?" she snapped, her patience gone after dealing with Paris earlier.

"That's not a very nice way to greet someone, I was just saying hello, your being rude"

"You want me to be more polite?" She said "How about learn my name for starters, and then see about leaving me alone and getting rid of this obsession of trying to get me to go out with you. You don't even like me that much"

"Hey, you don't know that, I like you a lot" he said with a smirk as he let his eyes trail over her body.

"Just leave me alone Tristan" Rory snapped with disgust "I really don't want to deal with you right now"

"What, bad day?" he asked sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact yes, and you being here is not helping at all" They had reached the lockers and she was just about to open hers when he stepped in front of it.

"Move!" she cried in exasperation, she had officially had enough.

His smirk increased. "Not until you agree to let me take you to the dance"

"What?" she said in confusion.

"The big school dance on Saturday, the one that all the fliers around the place are for" he said speaking slowly as if she was a five year old.

"I know about the dance" she snapped "but there is no way that I am ever going to go with you after everything, so go find someone else to bother"

"Oh, so who are you going to go with then?" he said starting to sound annoyed "You and Bag Boy aren't together anymore, so who? Or are you just going to sit home with Mommy and go to bed early"

"Its none of your business what I'm doing on Saturday, but none of my plans or ever going to involve you, so go away" She cried, although on the inside his words stung, but there was no way he was going to know that.

"What, did I hit a nerve? You know what I was just trying to do you a favour. No one else is ever going to go to the dance with you as your such a prude all of the time, you need to get a life"

Rory froze, she tried to open her mouth to say something but she couldn't. That hurt, and it was close to what she had been dreading about herself all along, to hear someone else say it was incredibly painful.

Tristan seemed to falter as he saw the hurt in her eyes and saw that maybe he'd gone to far. He was a bout to say something else but Rory was already walking off toward the doors, not caring that she still needed to put her books in her locker.

"Rory" he shouted after her.

"Just leave me alone!" she cried and practically ran out of the school.

* * *

><p>Rory was sat on her bed at home thinking about what had happened earlier in the day.<p>

Was Tristan right after all? Was she too much of a prude for anyone to really like her? Was that the reason that no one seemed to like her much at Chilton? The only friends she really had were her mother and Lane, and they had known her all her life. She was known as the towns princess, who could never do anything wrong, even when her and Dean broke up it was all his fault, never naïve little Rory's.

The words 'goody goody' and 'prude' rang in her ears, along with Paris and Tristan's voices. She wanted to change, not be the same perfect person that she had been her entire life. But how could she? She was the towns princess and her Grandparents little angel, even her mother thought she could do no wrong.

It wasn't as though she could change at Chilton either, things were already set there, people had their impression of her and they were going to stick with them.

"Honey I'm home" Lorelai called in to the house dramatically "I thought we could discuss battle strategies for later when we tell 'them' about me and your dad"

Rory smiled slightly, you could always count on her mother to cheer her up, even if only a bit.

"You do know Dad is coming to dinner right?" she asked as she left her room to see her Mom.

"Yes, but he'll just go along with what we decide as our plans are always brilliant" Lorelai said with a grin. She had collapsed on the couch as soon as she got home and Rory went to sit next to her. "What time is he coming anyway?"

"In about 15 minutes" Rory replied glancing at the clock "So I'd better start thinking up a plan to brief him on if I were you"

"Hey, you mean _we _should start thinking up a plan, we're in this together" Lorelai cried indignantly.

"No you're not dragging me in to one of your crazy ideas again, in my opinion you should just come out and say it"

"What! Something that simple could never work, and besides I made you, without me you wouldn't exist, you have to help, you owe it to me!"

"You're insane, you know that right" Rory said rolling her eyes.

"Huh, I'm offended. I thought you of all people would understand, but obviously not, well I …"

She was cut of by the doorbell sounding. They both glanced at the clock and then back at the door, before looking at each other.

"He's early" Rory said

"10 minutes early" Lorelai added.

"How could he?"

"How could you?" Lorelai yelled at the door.

"How about you let me in it's raining out here" Chris yelled back from outside the door.

"Well come back in 10 minutes and we'll think about it" Lorelai yelled back.

"Lor, come on" Chris said.

"Oh fine" She said and got up to answer the door.

Rory smiled at her parents antics but still couldn't get toady's conversations out of her head. She was sure her parents didn't have any trouble at school. They did all of the right things and managed to be both clever and have friends, she knew her mother had been one of the brightest in her class.

"Hey Kiddo" Chris said, pulling form her thoughts as he wandered over to her to give her a hug.

"Hey Dad" she said smiling as he kissed her cheek. "How's work?" she asked.

"Still there, the usual" he replied smiling back. "How school?"

Her own smile faltered "Fine" she said, not meeting his eyes. They both seemed to pick up on something in her voice, but guessing that she didn't want to talk about it, Lorelai changed the subject.

"So what's in the envelope?" she asked, gesturing to the think creamy card that Chris had tucked under his arm. "It looks fancy"

"A school reunion invitation from Andover, you remember the Boarding school I went to for a few years" he replied

"You mean that place you abandoned me to go to for 3 years of our teenage life" Lorelai dramatically said.

"Right that's the one" Chris said with a roll of his eyes.

"So are you going to go?" Lorelai asked.

"I don't know yet, its kind of a long way to go, but some of the best years of my life were at that place…Apart from the ones I spent with you of course" he quickly added after catching Lorelai's look.

Rory however wasn't listening anymore. Her mind was on her school situation and how she wanted to leave. Andover was all the way in London, which although meant that she would be no where near the people she loved, and that would be hard, no one knew her there. She could change and be the person she wanted to be, with no one judging her or expecting anything from her, it would be a fresh start. It was still an excellent school, as the Hayden's wouldn't have sent her Dad there if it wasn't. She would still have a chance of getting to an Ivy League school, but she would be away from Paris and Tristan. It was the perfect opportunity.

She wanted to go.

**A/N: Okay so there is the first chapter. Love it? Hate it? Please review and tell me what you think, and anything you think I should do later on. I will try to post another chapter soon. Thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I want to say thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and added me and the story to their alerts and favourites. I was really pleased and surprised with the response I got from the first chapter, so I have added this chapter quite soon because of that. So thank you again! **

**The story will be mainly from Rory's POV, but this chapter will have some of it in Lorelai's as I think that it worked with it well.**

Friday night dinner had gone pretty much as expected, with Lorelai trying to tell her parents about her relationship in code, which of course had failed, causing her to just blurt out the news like Rory had said. They of course were extremely happy at the news and her Grandma had even mentioned a summer wedding, much to Lorelai's utter delight.

Rory however had been pretty much silent during the whole thing, only speaking when spoken to. She knew her mother was worried about her, especially when she went to bed as soon as they got home, saying she was tired from school.

It was now early Saturday morning and she was sat at her desk looking at Andover's school website. It looked amazing. It was located just on the outskirts of Oxford and was a huge building made of beautiful grey bricks. The site said that it had been around for years and was highly recommended. It even had a library bigger than Chilton's. She really wanted to go.

It wasn't what anybody would call cheap, and she knew her mother would have a heart attack when she looked at the bill, that is if she even considered letting Rory go. However since it was such a good school she hoped that her Grandparents would carry on paying what they paid for Chilton, and she maybe ask her Great Grandma for a bit of access to her trust fund to pay for it.

Rory sighed as she heard the floor boards creak upstairs meaning that her mother was up. Quickly closing down the webpage, since she didn't want her mother to find out what she was looking at before she found a way to ask her, Rory headed in to the kitchen.

"Hey Babe" Lorelai said, appearing in the doorway "How long have you been up?"

"Not long" Rory quickly replied "You want a pop tart?"

"Please" Lorelai said "And I am in much need for lots of Coffee, I'm feeling completely deprived, I take it you want some too?"

Rory grinned "Desperately, it's been what, a whole night?"

"Yeah but you didn't have any when we got in so you must be dying"

"You're telling me" Rory laughed as she set the pop tarts down on a plate.

"Well I'm your savoir" Lorelai said, setting down a steaming mug of coffee down in front of her daughter.

"Mmm" Rory sighed as she inhaled the rich aroma "You're an angel"

"A goddess"

"A coffee goddess"

"I like that" Lorelai grinned as she bit in to a pop tart.

Rory smiled. If she went to Andover she knew that leaving her mother would be one of the hardest things she would ever have to do. She was her best friend.

"So..." Lorelai began and Rory felt the change in the atmosphere "What was going on with you last night?"

Rory tensed, looking everywhere but her mother "Nothing, I'm fine" she said quickly.

Lorelai raised an eyebrow, her blue eyes piercing her daughter speculatively "Right, so not wanting to talk about school, the silences, the monosyllable answers whenever someone spoke to you and going to bed without coffee…That's all perfectly normal?"

Rory shrugged.

Lorelai sighed. "You know if something is bothering you, you can tell me"

"You can tell both of us" Chris said as he appeared around the corner and sat down, taking a pop tart as he did so.

"We're both really worried about you hun" Lorelai said

"It's school" Rory said slowly, not meeting her parents eyes.

"What about school?" Chris asked gently

"Well…" she paused and realised that she may as well tell them everything now, the sooner the better. "I really hate it there; I have Paris and all of the girls constantly on my back all day long and Tristan too. No one seems to like me and I just don't fit in. I can't come home to Stars Hollow High because I won't stand a chance of getting in to an Ivy League school there, but I can't spend any longer at Chilton"

Her parents were silent a minute before her mother spoke.

"I had no idea it was that bad" Lorelai said her blue eyes wide and worried "You never said anything"

"I didn't want to worry you" Rory murmured.

"Oh baby" Lorelai said, coming round the table to give her daughter a hug. The two of them clung to each other for a few minutes when Chris spoke.

"We can't let this go on any longer" he said his face holding a horrified expression "We can't"

"What can we do?" Lorelai said looking even more worried "She was right about the school situation"

"I know what I want to do" Rory murmured quietly.

"What's that honey?" her Dad asked.

"I want to get away from Chilton for a while. Too many people know me around here and I want to make a fresh start. When you mentioned Andover last night and how much you enjoyed it there I started to wonder what it would be like. It would all be new there and I would still get a good education, maybe better. I really want to go"

There was silence.

"To Andover?" Chris asked.

Rory nodded.

"No!" Lorelai cried, finally reacting "It's in London! You can't go all that way; we would never get to see each other. You would be there all on your own, you cant, I'm not letting you!"

"Lor…"

"No Chris!" She's our daughter; we can't send her that far away. We don't know what will happen"

"I'd be safe, it's a school" Rory said, looking desperately at her mother "Please"

"No, Rory. I can't let you go that far away"

"Please Mom" Rory said her voice wavering and she realised that she had started to cry "I can't stay there any longer, I can't. Please let me go, I'm going to miss you more than anything but I have to do this"

"Oh Rory" Lorelai said, now starting to cry herself. She hugged her daughter again hard "I will think about it"

Rory nodded and smiled weakly as her Dad looked across the table at her. He smiled back.

* * *

><p>Lorelai P<p>

It was Sunday morning when Lorelai made her decision. She had watched her daughter over the weekend and had noticed how even though she put on a good front, she was miserable. Lorelai could tell that the whole situation was really making her unhappy, and she knew that no matter what, that was the worst thing to happen.

She had looked through the school broachers that Chris kept being sent, and checked everything online. She couldn't deny that is was a very good school. Chris seemed to think that it was a good idea and she knew that he would miss Rory too. The money would not be easy but she was going to visit her parents today to try and sort that out.

"Hey" said a voice form behind her and she turned to see Chris leaning against the doorframe behind her, in a pair of light blue jeans and a black shirt. God, she could feel herself falling for him all over again.

"Hey" she replied smiling at him "How to you fancy another trip to my dear parent's house for lunch?"

He raised his eyebrows. "What's this all about?" he asked.

Lorelai took a deep breath. "I think you were right" She said slowly "maybe going away to school is the best thing for Rory, I mean we can't let it go on anymore and besides, you seemed to have a good time there and the time away doesn't seem to have effected you on the outside, well aside from the obvious" she said smiling slightly.

"Funny" Chris said rolling his eyes, but he quickly turned serious "You're sure about this though?"

"Yeah I'm sure"

"Ok then, so are we going to Richard and Emily's to tell them then, I assume that's why we're going"

"Yeah, that and the fact that the school isn't exactly cheap, I need to go and ask them if they wouldn't mind paying a bit more and trying to contact Gran to ask if we can get Rory's trust fund available early"

"Well I wouldn't mind paying some towards it, I mean I know I was going to pay for collage but we can work something out, she's my daughter to, I want to help."

"Chris you don't have to do that" Lorelai said

"I want to. Anyway are we ready to go because I assume dinner is just under an hour"

"Right, shoot it is, we better get moving" Lorelai said starting to go through the closet.

"Got it" Chris said starting to leave the room to get his case.

"Chris" she called quickly

"Yeah" he asked poking his head back round the door.

"Thanks for doing this"

He smiled "No problem Lor".

* * *

><p>"How could you even be thinking about this?" Emily cried. She was stood at the head of the table, her eyes wide and her face pinched up in anger. "You can't be serious!"<p>

"Emily…" Richard began

"You can't even consider sending Rory away!" She practically yelled "Boarding school is for bad, drug using delinquents that need to be sent away, not for good kids like her!"

"Mom" Lorelai said "I know this is a big shock for you, and it's hard for us too, but I really think that this is what's best for Rory, and besides, she really wants to go".

"But why? Why would she want to leave everything she knows and loves to go halfway across the world to a school that she doesn't know anything about?"

"She's having trouble at school" Lorelai said quietly.

"What?" Emily asked, her face becoming shocked and her voice much quieter.

"She's getting picked on and harassed by these girls, and a certain guy. She isn't happy there; she's gone from loving school to dreading it. It's not right and I can't let it happen, it's affecting her life."

Emily just stared at her, the previous argument dropping form her lips. Richard looked completely horrified.

"Why did she never mention any of this?" he asked, for once his voice slightly shaky.

"Because it's Rory. She wouldn't want to say anything if it ended up causing any trouble or inconvenience. That's how I know it's so bad, she would never had said anything if it wasn't"

"My God" Emily said, sinking back down in to her chair, running her hand through her perfectly styled caramel coloured hair.

"You think this would be good for her?" Richard asked, looking equally as horrified.

"I went there myself" Chris said, speaking for the first time in a few minutes. "It has a great education and the people you meet there become as good as family…"

"She already has a family here!" He said, starting to sound angry.

"I know and I understand that, but at Rory's age she needs people her own age to be with. It did me a whole load of good in the time I spent there, and it taught me a lot of important lessons on life"

"What, like how to get you're girlfriend pregnant at sixteen?" Richard exclaimed, really loosing his temper, his face going red and contrasting against the grey of his suit.

"Dad!" Lorelai exclaimed, standing up herself "You have no right to say that! You have no right to use your anger now against old issues to do with me and Chris. I know you're upset but you have to listen to us. We think it would be better for her there, surly your Granddaughters happiness is the most important thing."

"Well yes but…"

"No Richard" Emily said suddenly and effectively silencing him "They are right."

"What!"

"They're right. Rory's happiness is the most important thing. We need to consider that, and if it takes letting her go all the way to England to do that, then so be it. We can't let what is going on at Chilton carry on, in fact I am absolutely furious it has been going on that long."

"Wow, I think that that's the first time we've actually agreed on something" Lorelai said, laughing lightly.

"Lorelai" Emily said turning to glare at her as Chris shook his head and rolled his eyes across the table.

"Right sorry." She muttered. "But thank you. From us and from Rory"

Emily nodded "That's quite alright; we need her to be happy again. Besides, it is a top school and Chris never turned out too badly." She said, looking at Chris.

"See thank you!" he said looking at Lorelai as if to say '_Ha_'.

Lorelai smiled. "Whatever you think" she said rolling her eyes "We better be going then. Umm, I've left the info on the table by the door for you to have a look at, and Chris says he will pay what is extra than paying for Chilton. Thank you Mom, and I hope you come around to the idea Dad"

"Thank you for the lovely dinner Emily, it was delicious" Chris said, getting up himself. "I will see you soon I guess"

"Yes, see you soon Christopher" Emily said "Goodbye Lorelai".

"Bye Mom" She replied, before hurrying out to the car, Chris close behind her.

"God, talk about changing your minds quickly. Everything's crazy in the Gilmore house" Lorelai said as she climbed in to the drivers' side of her jeep.

"Yeah well, at least one of them agreed and I'm sure you dad will come around eventually"

"Yeah I guess. I'm sorry he laid in to you like that. I think it's just like sixteen years of anger over another issue finally coming out."

"Don't worry about it. I mean, he does have a reason to be angry. He had to say it sometime, at least it was done with no weapons around" he said, lightening the mood.

Lorelai laughed. "Tell me about it. It's a good job you were no where near his golfing clubs, they could have caused a whole load of damage."

"Oh yeah, death by driver, I'll bet that'd be painful"

They both laughed and then the rest of the ride home was silent until they pulled in to the driveway. There was a light coming from Rory's bedroom window and they could see the silhouette of her reading through the thick draperies.

"Do you think we should tell her tonight?" Lorelai said quietly.

"I think so. She's been waiting all weekend for it and it's only fair we tell her. It might make her happy. She only has two more days left of Chilton before the end of the Semester, so I think it might make her feel better to know it's her last."

"Yeah, you're right. Come on then, let's go, she's gonna be so happy."

**A/N: So this chapter hasn't been particularly exciting, but I promise that it will get better more interesting in the next one, when she will leave Chilton to go away. Maybe introducing some characters that haven't been in the story so far. Please review to tell me what you think and any ideas and opinions that you have. I will send a sneak peak of the next chapter to anyone who reviews. Thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I want to say thank you again for all of the reviews and favourites I have received in the past week. Thank you to everyone who has done so and read the story so far, I really appreciate it.**

**This chapter is slightly longer than the others but I wanted to get on to Rory going to Andover. I hope you like it.**

This was it, her last two days of Chilton. After that she would never have to go back again, or ever see the people there. This would be one of the last times that she would ever have to see Paris, Tristan, and anyone else. No more stupid come-ons and abuse in the hallways and in classes.

When her parents told her that she could go to Andover the night before, it had been one of the best moments of her life. The excitement of it all and the happiness that she had felt was amazing and she couldn't wait to get started on getting all of the stuff that she needed. Her Mom had said last night that they would go on a shopping trip at the first possible opportunity. As well as the happiness however, she also felt relief, tremendous relief. On top of the fear of going to a new place, the fact that she would never have to deal with all that stuff again was a huge weight of her mind. She had never realised how much it all hurt her until it didn't have to be like that anymore.

Rory sat gazing out of the window on the way to school and thought about everything she was going to leave behind. Like the tall expensive houses, the grassy yards and the sunny weather (at least some of the time). It would be completely different in England. It was a known fact that the weather was terrible and that the food was never going to be as good as it was here. There would be no more movie nights with her mother, and no more funny encounters with the people of the town, she was going to miss it all. However she knew she had to do this, it meant everything to her now, and her Grandparents knew, so everything was almost ready.

As Chilton came in to view she had a few mixed feelings. She was so glad to be leaving Paris and everyone behind, but the building was historic and all the teachers were great, even if Headmaster Charleston wasn't the nicest person in the world. Never mind all of that, Rory thought to herself, Andover would be amazing and she would be able to make new friends and come out of her shell more. It was a good thing, she knew it.

As she walked in to homeroom a short while later, everyone was talking about the dance that happened on Saturday night. Conversations about Limos, dresses and who went home with who filled the air. She blocked it out. She could have gone if she had wanted to, but she didn't, there would be plenty of time for her to go at her new school. That thought made me smile.

"Thinking about me Mary?" Tristan asked, perching on the desk beside hers, an amused smirk on his face.

"Yes" she snapped sarcastically, her previous good mood gone. "All I ever think about is you and what a beautiful person you are"

"Your words not mine" He said grinning even more "So how was your Saturday night? Was I right about what I said, or did you and bag Boy pick it up again?"

"That's none of your business, but no me and Dean are not back together, thank you for bringing it up"

"Aww, are you feeling unloved? Well if you had come to the dance with me then you wouldn't have been feeling that way would you. I took Summer instead, she was far more fun than you would be anyway" The smirk was back on is face.

"I'm sure you're very happy together. Now can you please leave me alone so I can finish my last few days here in peace."

"I'm hurt that you don't want me around. Besides, it's only a two weeks off, then you will be back here and we will be around each other again, so I don't really see the point in wasting two days"

She was about to open her moth to respond when a voice interrupted them.

"Tristan!" Summer called from across the room, her dark hair down and shiny around her shoulders and her face set in a smile that Rory was sure was supposed to look seductive. "Come and look at these photos from the dance, my dad called up the printing agency and got them done early. There's a great one of me and you together."

"Alright I'm coming, have you got any of what happened after?" he asked raising is eyebrow while his eyes ran over her body "because I'll bet they'd be pretty good".

"Oh stop it" she said giggling loudly while playing with her hair "Come on, leave the Virgin Mary over there and come and look" with that she turned back to the pictures, but not before sending a wink his way.

He smirked at Rory again "Like I said, I had a _much _better time with Summer than I ever could with you" and with that he left her standing there as he walked over to look at the pictures while sliding his hands up Summers shirt, but at an angle where only Rory could see. Summer giggled but didn't say anything.

Rory rolled her eyes; she definitely couldn't wait to be out of here.

* * *

><p>It was at dinner however when everything kicked off. She was on her way to her table with her tray of food when Paris appeared in front of her, looking like an angry general ready to explode.<p>

"Well?" she practically yelled

"Well what?" Rory replied with an incredulous look.

"Don't be an idiot, you know what"

"Well obviously I don't or I wouldn't be asking you would I?"

"The meeting at my house" Paris said, looking even angrier.

"What meeting at your house?" said Rory, getting angry herself.

"The meeting at my house to go over the Romeo and Juliet scene that is worth 50% of our final grade. Remember that?"

"Yeah I remember the assignment, but not about any meeting"

"I told Madeline and Louise to tell you, don't act like you don't know"

Rory glanced to where Madeline and Louise were sat near by and as they quickly looked away from her, she caught sight of there amused smirks and sighed. Great, even more trouble with Paris.

"Well? Do you have nothing to say?" Paris snapped, her voice getting louder, and whoever wasn't watching them before, definitely was now.

"No Paris I don't. Madeline and Louise never told me about that meeting, but since you are never going to believe me I'm not going to bother trying to persuade you, but it was never my fault that I missed the meeting. I'm going to go; I can't be bothered to deal with you anymore"

She started to turn away but Paris grabbed her arm causing Rory to drop her tray but Paris didn't bother with that.

"We're done when I say we're done" she yelled, causing a couple of people to step back. "You're just trying to get out of this, or maybe you are trying to mess things up because you wanted to be the director and you're jealous of me."

That was when Rory snapped, everything that both Paris and Tristan and everyone else had said to her today and for the past year rang in her ears. She'd had it with them all, and she was finally going to let them know.

"Jealous!" she yelled back "Jealous! My God Paris get over yourself, not everyone wants to be you. I don't now and I never will, and you know what, I really don't want to deal with you any more, and I'm not going to waste my break going over a play with you. Go tell Miss James I'm not doing it anymore, go find someone else!"

"You can't just back out!" Paris screamed "It's worth 50% of our grades, you will fail if you won't get in to an ivy leagye school. Then what will you do? Go work in the local market with your hopeless ex-boyfriend?"

"No Paris, I'm not, because it isn't worth 50% of my final grade. I'm leaving, so I can take something else in my new school, and thank God I won't have to deal with you there"

The cafeteria went silent as they took in what she had said, even Paris faltered. That didn't last long though and she quickly regained her composure.

"What, your running back to that pathetic High School in your ridiculous little town that you came from? Can't take it here? Well I knew it, this school is for people like me, not losers like you"

Rory glared at her "No actually I'm not. I'm going away to school, to Andover Boarding school in England. It has a higher grade average than here and I'm sure has much nicer people in it, though that wouldn't be hard."

"Andover?" Louise said, suddenly coming over "That's an amazing school. It's known for its awesome parties and really cute guys, I'd give anything to go there, and you're supposed to get away with everything. Are you sure you going to fit in there? It's also really popular, and like impossible to get in, how will you manage it?"

Rory paused, she knew that it was a bit like that, she had heard her Dad's stories from it, but it had never occurred to her how it would be for her to be able to take part in stuff like that. She couldn't let Louise know that though so she kept her face perfectly calm and answered her other question.

"My Dad went to school there" she said nonchalantly "He's been getting broachers and stuff for ages about referring someone to go there, I know he had a great time when he went. He gave them a call last night and they said that they had a place for me as someone just left". She took pleasure in the shocked, and slightly jealous faces of Madeline and Louise, and most of the other people in the room.

"Wow, lucky" Madeline said, her eyes wide. "What?" she asked after catching Paris and Louise's looks "She is".

"Yeah well you go off to England and leave us the hell alone, it's not like anyone here will miss you, I'm glad your gonna be gone" Paris said, her eyes glinting with malice "I hope you have fun ruining your life on alcohol, that is if you ever dare come out of your room. Good Luck" she said sarcastically.

With that she turned on her heel, neatly stepping over Rory's lunch, and left the room with Madeline and Louise following close behind.

"So you're leaving" Tristan said coming up in front of her, his face expressionless, though she could see something else in his eyes. Disappointment. "You wanna come to my place tonight for a last good bye?" he asked smirking at her.

"No way Tristan, leave me alone, I'm glad I won't have to deal with you when I'm gone"

"Ouch, you got shot down Dugrey!" One guy from the crowd shouted.

Tristan glared at him then at her. "You're never going to make it at Andover you know" he said angrily "I know what people are like there, they are so not going to like you. You're such a prude that you won't last five minutes, and then you'll come back home crying to Mommy."

A couple of people laughed at that.

"You don't know anything!" Rory yelled at him, and with that turned and walked quickly out of the cafeteria. She carried on down the corridor towards the exit, she had had enough of this place, there was no point staying for a day and a half. So with that she walked out of Chilton forever.

* * *

><p>Somehow she had ended up in Hartford. She had come to the decision that if she was going to change her attitude in London, then she needed a new wardrobe to go with that.<p>

She was standing in the middle of one of the biggest department store in the area and looked around. It wasn't going to be cheap, but her Grandparents had given her a credit card if she ever wanted to use it, and although she felt guilty doing so, she had never done it before.

So that was it. Rory was going through the store picking up various articles of clothing to try on. She was going for a new style that was different her normal one, though she had to be careful because she knew the weather would be colder in England. She picked out shorter skirts, skinnier jeans, lots of tank tops and pretty shirts, making sure not to go far enough to look sluttish. She ended up buying loads of clothes and a lot of shoes, bags and accessories to go with them all. Never before had she understood her mothers' love of shopping, but it was starting to become fun to her as well.

She had also bought some designer pieces that she fell in love with, but she hoped her Grandparents wouldn't be too bothered about it. These included a new Louis Vuitton brown shoulder bag (and had ended up buying the luggage set to go with it), a pair of black Jimmy Choo shoes with a smallish heel that she hoped she could wear to school, a Juicy Couture shirt and a Burberry Mac and scarf.

When she got home she hurried to put them in her room, though she was having the luggage delivered the next day.

Her Mom had laid out the new school uniform on Rory's bed, and after having her permission, had altered it. It was mainly black, which was unusual for a uniform, but was a relief to Rory as she had spent the last year in plaid. It was also surprisingly stylish; whether it was meant to be like that or if that was due to Lorelai's sewing skills. A plain white shirt, which was fitted, so managed to look pretty, a black skirt (A few different ones were out) a black and silver tie, and a black blazer, which Lorelai had evidently taken in. Overall it looked good. It was then that she really felt like she was ready to go.

* * *

><p><em><span>A week and a half later<span>_

Rory was stood in the middle of the airport between her parents, with her Grandparents a little in front. All her luggage was packed and ready to go and she had ten minuets until she boarded the plane.

The last week had gone quickly. Her Mom had agreed to let her stay away from Chilton and they then had spent as much time together as possible. They had had extra movie nights and had a lot of mother daughter days out. She'd also spent a lot of time with her Dad, her Grandparents and Lane. The town had thrown a goodbye party for her the night before and that had been fun, if not completely crazy. She knew she was going to miss them all a lot but she was really excited about Andover.

"Promise to call as soon as you get there" Lorelai said, her blue eyes shining with tears as she looked at her daughter.

"I will, I love you" she replied, tears running silently down her own face.

"Love you too babe"

"Come here and give me a hug" Chris said smiling, but he looked upset himself.

Rory did so and smiled slightly. Her dad had been just as excited as her the last few days, telling more stories about his time there and a load of tips on what to do.

Her Grandfather had even come around, which she was pleased about, and as she hugged her Grandparents goodbye she felt them crying too.

"Be careful Rory" her Grandmother said "And don't do anything stupid"

"I won't" she replied smiling weakly.

Giving her mother a last hug, she turned and headed towards the gate. As she was about to go through, Lorelai shouted from across the terminal.

"Bye Mini Me" she called

"Bye Coffee Goddess" Rory yelled back smiling. With that she went and boarded the plane.

The hours passed by slowly, but after what felt like an age they finally landed.

Looking in the mirror in the bathroom, Rory stared at herself, hoping that she looked ok.

She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans, a white, lacy tank top and some black heeled boots. This was combined with a black Coach pilot jacket and her new Louis Vuitton bag. Her hair was down and curled lightly at the ends and she was wearing minimal make-up, with just a few long silver necklaces that were on sale.

Leaving the airport with all her bags in hand, she found the black cab that her Grandparents had ordered. As they pulled up to the school her mouth dropped open. It was huge; at least three times the size of Chilton, and its stonework and the countryside around it made it look really picturesque. The photos on the website hardly did it justice; she couldn't believe that she was going to school here.

"Well, here we are Miss" the cab driver said smiling as he helped get her bags out of the trunk.

"Thank you for your help" she said smiling as she looked around.

"Good Luck and enjoy yourself!" he called as he drove away, and she was alone again.

Taking a deep breath, she started towards the building.

* * *

><p>The secretary, Mrs Smith had given her a map and a room key labelled 64.<p>

"You will be in block B" she said "You will be sharing the room with one other girl as her room mate recently left. We have had your bags taken there already, so they should be there when you get to your room. Welcome to Andover and Good Luck Miss Gilmore."

"Thanks" Rory said smiling as she took the map in hand and began to follow it in the direction it said her room would be in.

The place was filling up, and Rory was alreday attracting quite a few stares. It was all so big completely different to anything she was used to. Her nerves began to set in again as the panic also started. What if the same things that happened at Chilton happened here? What if they all hated her and it was even worse? It wasn't as if she could escape here either, she would be here all the time. What if her roommate was horrible? Oh God, what had she gotten herself in to? She wasn't the type of girl who partied and she didn't find making new friends easy.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she was barley looking where she was going, and suddenly she collided with someone and started to fall to the floor. Just as she started to brace herself for the impact, an arm caught her and steadied her.

"Whoa, alright there Love?" a voice said loudly in a strong Australian accent. Rory glanced up to see a tall dark haired guy standing in front of her, wearing a Hawaiian style shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Yeah, thank you" she said as she stood up properly "I'm sorry I wasn't looking where I was going"

"That's fine, and no problem, anything for a beautiful lady like you." She blushed slightly and looked down, but it wasn't the same as when Tristan said something like that, he wasn't looking at her as though she was an object.

"Stop hitting on the poor girl Finn" said a blonde girl who was standing next to him "She's just got here".

The guy, who must be Finn opened his mouth to protest, but she just rolled her eyes and turned to Rory.

"Sorry about him" she said smiling and was clearly American too due to the sound of her voice "I'm Stephanie Vanderbilt and this is Finn Morgan, welcome to Andover"

"Thanks, um I'm Rory Gilmore" Rory said as she looked at Stephanie. The girl was gorgeous. She had long, perfectly styled blonde hair that flowed down her back and pretty chocolate brown eyes. She was wearing a short white skirt and a pair of pale pink wedges, with a baby pink of the shoulder top that clung to her perfect figure. A silver Chanel purse was slung over her shoulder, completing the outfit.

"What room are you in, we would be happy to take you there" she said with another smile.

Rory stared at her in surprise. They were actually being nice to her, she could hardly believe it. This was already ten times better that her first day at Chilton. Maybe this school would be fun after all.

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter seemed to move through everything quite quickly, but like I said I wanted to get the story moving on to new characters. I hope you liked it! I will send a small part of the next chapter to anyone who reviews, but I can't if you don't have your private messaging turned on. I promise that Logan will be appearing in the next chapter**

**Please review!**

**Thank you for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Well this is chapter four. I want to say how happy I was when I got the response for the last chapter and it's great to know that people are enjoying the story so far. Thank you again for all of the reviews and everything else, I really appreciate it.**

**This chapter is longer than the others but I wanted to take time for Rory to get to know people and settle in. I hope it works and I hope you enjoy it.**

_Recap:_

"_What room are you in, we would be happy to take you there" she said with another smile._

_Rory stared at her in surprise. They were actually being nice to her, she could hardly believe it. This was already ten times better that her first day at Chilton. Maybe this school would be fun after all._

"Umm Thanks, I'm in room 64 of block B, if you know where that is." Rory said nervously, holding up her room key to show them.

Stephanie's eyes widened slightly and her face broke out in to an even bigger smile. "I definitely know where that is" she said sounding excited "That's my room! This is great! I knew I was getting a new roommate after the old one left, but she was weird, I was expecting someone like her. I can tell already that you're going to be so much more interesting!" She paused for breath, practically bouncing up and down.

Rory couldn't believe it. She seemed actually happy that she had her as a roommate, and she was really nice so far too. Realising that she hadn't said anything yet she spoke quickly, not wanting them to get a bad impression of her after they seemed to like her.

"I'm glad that I've already met you" she smiled herself "I mean you seem really nice and everything, both of you" she turned to Finn who grinned at her.

"Well it looks like I'll be seeing a lot more of you Love" he said slinging his arm around her shoulders and starting to walk along the corridor. "I can even come for a sleepover if you like" he waggled his eyebrows and she laughed despite blushing at his words.

"Yes, but that's something you definitely won't be doing" Stephanie said coming up beside them. "Anyway we'll go and get settled in and you can go and meet the other two like we were going to"

"All right banish me why don't you" Finn said dramatically "but I better go and meet Colin and Logan before all the ladies think they are as good as it gets around here, Later Doll" he said winking at her and walking away raising his eyebrows at two passing girls as he did so.

Rory laughed as he rounded the corner, putting on a pair of black raybands as he went.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "He's constantly drunk, completely insane and eccentric but he's a good and loyal friend."

"He seems nice"

"Yeah he is, most of the time. Anyway, the rooms this way I assume your stuffs already in there?"

"Yeah" Rory said walking with her in to a big stone building with oak doors and staircases on the inside.

"So this is the girls' dorm area. The guys' is next door in Block A. It's generally a great place and they are quite lenient on opposite sexes going on the different buildings until later on, not that they could particularly do anything if they did mind anyway."

They had reached a thick oak door with 64 labelled on it in big gold numbers. There was even a notice board that people could write and leave notes on like in collage.

Stephanie pulled a key out from her purse and unlocked the door. "Welcome to your new home!" she said as it swung open.

It was pretty. There were two sturdy beds at either side of the room and a window beside each and one in the middle, letting in lots of light. There were two walk in closets, one which was bursting with clothes, and another door that evidently led to a bathroom. There were two desks and chairs, and Stephanie currently had a dressing table by one wall. One side of the room had been painted a pretty pink colour and the other was left as a cream. It was amazing compared to what she thought it would be like, but you get what you payed for she supposed.

"Wow!" Rory said "It's brilliant!"

"Well its ok, nice enough" Stephanie said, going and sitting down on one of the beds "I take it those are yours?" she gestured to Rory's suitcases that had been placed by the other bed.

"Yeah they are"

She crossed the room and sat down on her own bed, turning to look at her new roommate.

"So what's your story?"

Rory paused, looking at Stephanie nervously. The other girl didn't look like she had any other motives, she just looked curious. If she wanted to make friends here she would have to open up sometime, that she knew for certain.

"Well" she began, fiddling with the button on her jacket "My Mom used to be part of the Hartford society, but she got pregnant with me at sixteen and decided that she didn't want to raise me in the environment that she had always felt suffocated in. So she didn't marry my Dad and left home. We moved to a little town called Stars Hollow on the outskirts of Hartford for a while and I went to the local high school and everything was fine. However me and my Mom had always dreamed of me going to an Ivy league school, but that wouldn't happen if I stayed at Stars Hollow High so we applied for Chilton and got accepted. However, when I went there it wasn't like I thought it would be." She stopped, not sure if she should go any further, after all she didn't want to seem like a loser to her new roommate.

"What happened" Stephanie asked

Rory looked up at her, but the blonde's expression was still just curious, understanding even and she felt a swell of courage go through her and carried on.

"Well on my first day I somehow seemed to get on the wrong side of one of the girls, her name was Paris. I still don't know how I did it; she just seemed to dislike me straight away. Her dislike made the other girls hate me and that meant torment everyday. Then a guy called Tristan dubbed me as the schools 'Mary' and he used to chat me up every day and tease me about being a prude. I just got totally sick of it all. I mean the work was fine, I even enjoyed it, but everything else was terrible, so I remembered that my Dad went to school for a while here so I decided to come to change. I don't want to be a Mary anymore." She stopped for breath, he blue eyes meeting Stephanie's brown ones. The other girl looked sympathetic and even more understanding.

"Wow" she said "I'm sorry that you've had to go through all that, it's totally unfair. I understand why you came here, it's a good thing, and I definitely would have done the same. It will be better here I promise."

Rory smiled at her, feeling truly happy for the first time in a while. She seemed sincere and generally seemed to understand what the issue was.

"Thanks Stephanie" she said "So what about you, I mean why are you here?"

"Call me Steph" she said smiling herself "Well when I say I understand, I really do. That high society you say those kids are in, I was brought up in too. Except the difference is that their parents probably are at least a bit interested in them. Mine would rather ship me off to boarding school and forget about me until I am 21 and can start to inherit the family business. I know they care a lot more than some peoples parents around here do, but not like a proper family should. I don't mind anymore though, I like these places"

Rory's eyes widened. She felt sorry for the other girl. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to live without her mother and their relationship, even her Dad was starting to spend a lot more time with her.

"I'm sorry" she said quietly

Steph smiled "I've got over it" she said lightly "It's just the way it is around here, for a lot of people too…Wait! Did you say your second name was Gilmore?"

"Umm, yeah" Rory said, confused at the sudden interest in her name.

"So is your mother Lorelai Gilmore?" Steph asked, her eyes wide and she was practically bouncing in her seat.

"Yeah" Rory said, totally confused by this point "How did you know?"

She smiled slightly "Everyone knows the story of Lorelai Gilmore. Of how she walked out of society, out of her parents reaches with her daughter and built a life for herself, so she could be happy. She did what a load of us around here would love to do but don't have the guts."

"I never knew she was so famous" Rory said, thinking of her mother and their house back home.

"Oh yeah" Steph said "Well to a few of us at least, we all really admire what she did and wish we could do it too"

She couldn't believe how different it was. Everyone at Chilton said what her mother did as a terrible thing and that she should be looked down upon for that. Yet here was Steph saying that she admired what she did?

"Well, she'll be pleased to know that you think that" Rory said smiling "I will tell her when she rings, which should be soon"

"She's ringing you tonight?" Steph sounded surprised.

"Well, yeah" Rory said frowning "She will want to know I got here ok"

"You have a good relationship with her then?

"She's my best friend, I couldn't live without her"

"Wow, best friends with a parent. What about your Dad do you get along with him too?"

"We're not as close as me and my Mom and I didn't see him for a lot of the time when I was younger, but now he's around a lot and we are getting closer. He's started to date my Mom again now too."

"That's nice. Your parents getting back together after all of these years, but because they want to, not because they are being forced. It's so romantic" Steph smiled.

Rory laughed. "I guess so. I can't say that I have never dreamed about them getting together one day, like a proper family."

Steph nodded in agreement. "So you say you wanted to come here to try to change" she asked.

Rory nodded. "I want to be different, not loads but enough. I want to get out more and have more of a life than books, although I love them and always will. I want to reinvent myself, the new Rory. I even bought a load of new clothes before I came here."

Steph's ears practically pricked up at the last sentence. "You went shopping?" she asked.

"Yeah" Rory laughed "I wanted to get a new style as well and I figured it would help and make me feel different. I don't want to lose myself or anything, but I want to change. What I'm wearing now isn't the type of thing I usually would, but I like it, I think."

"You look good, I love the jacket"

"Thanks" Rory smiled but blushed too, not used to compliments.

"So are the rest of your clothes in your cases?" Steph asked, gesturing to her luggage eagerly.

"Yes, I bought it all with me. Most of the stuff is new"

"Well let's have a look!" Steph said excitedly, "I love looking at clothes!"

Laughing as she did so, Rory began to unpack the cases with the help of her new roommate.

* * *

><p>By the end of it both girls were exhausted. All of Rory's stuff was unpacked and arranged in its correct position around the room. All of her clothes had been put away (after Steph had looked through them all and asked to borrow a load), and all of her make up was in the bathroom and on the little dressing table by the window. All of her books had been put on the shelves and the walls had been decorated with pictures of her family and Lane. Her pillows and blankets were all on the bed and her desk had been set up with her laptop. The room reflected her personality and Rory began to feel at home.<p>

"My God you've got some stuff" Steph said collapsing on to her own bed "And even more books" she added shaking her head as she looked at Rory's book collection.

"I like books" Rory said shrugging, while grinning impishly.

Steph rolled her eyes "I've noticed"

Suddenly a loud ringing erupted through the room, making both girls jump.

"What the…?"

"It's my phone" Rory said leaping up "It will be my Mom" She picked the phone up off the night stand quickly answered it before it rang off.

"Hello?"

"Fruit of my Loins!" Lorelai's voice sounded down the phone and she grinned, it was good to hear he Mom's voice.

"Hey Mom"

"How are you honey?" Lorelai asked quickly "Did you get there alright? Was the cab driver nice? Have you met any of your classmates yet, what are they like? Ooh and your roommate, have you met her yet? Is she nice? I hope she's nice. What about Coffee? Tell me you've found good Coffee."

"Mom!" Rory said laughing at her mother's outburst "I'm fine I promise. The plane ride was boring but fine and the cab driver was friendly enough. I've met my roommate already and she is amazing, her names Steph. I've also met a guy named Finn, one of her friends and he was nice too. He's Australian."

"Ooh Exotic! Keep your eye on him babe, they're always fun"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Ok, whatever you say"

"Hey" Lorelai said indignantly "I'll have you know that mommy gives excellent advice, especially on exotic men. Anyway you never mentioned coffee, you've found coffee right?"

"I had some from Starbucks at the airport and we have an instant coffee maker plugged in the room that Dad gave me. Steph said there's a delivery service though that will bring it everyday if i can arrange it"

"Well what a relief. God bless your father, and God Bless the delivery people. So your new roommate's nice then?"

"Yeah, she's great" Rory said "I met her in the corridor first and she offered to take me to my room and then we found out we were sharing. She's helped me unpack and we've talked and stuff"

"Well I'm glad you're making friends" Lorelai said sounding relieved "It sounds better than Chilton anyway"

"Yeah it definitely is, so much better. Though I miss you so much here"

"I miss you too Honey. I'm glad you're happy though, you are happy right?"

"Yes, I'm definitely happy" Rory confirmed smiling.

"Good. Well I better go as you will be going to bed soon I take it cause your five hours ahead."

She glanced at the clock on her night stand and could hardly believe how late it was, unpacking had taken much longer than she initially thought it would.

"Yeah I am. Speak to you tomorrow night?"

"Speak to you then" Lorelai said "Love you honey, have a good day!"

"Love you too Mom, bye!"

"Bye babe!"

They hung up and Rory looked up to find Steph staring at her.

"You really do have a great relationship with her" she said smiling "I've never seen anyone talk that way with their Mom before, even those who get along"

"We've always had the friend relationship before the mother daughter one" Rory replied "It's ended up with us being really close as we have both relationships"

Steph nodded. "What about your Dad, is he going to call soon?"

"Tomorrow" she answered "He had to get on a plane himself after I left as he has a conference thing in Canada to go to. He said he would ring tomorrow night after we had both settled in." Rory had told Steph more about her family, the town and the rest of her life while they had been unpacking and vice versa. It had been a long time since she had opened up to someone like that.

They both looked at the picture next to Rory's bed. It was in a glass frame that had 'family' written on it in italics. In the frame was a picture of Lorelai, Rory and Chris in the snow round Stars hollow last Christmas Eve. They were all grinning at the camera dressed in thick woolly garments and you could just see Luke's in the background. It showed home.

Rory sighed and looked away. She was really going to miss it all. Wanting to change the subject she turned back to Steph.

"I can't believe how late it's gotten" she said glancing at the clock again "It doesn't seem long since I got here"

"I know" Steph said "That's a good sign for the future though as we are finding the time we spend together goes really fast"

Rory nodded "I better start getting ready to turn in; I don't want to be really tired for tomorrow"

"Yeah me too. We could get ready for bed and watch a movie before we actually go to sleep"

"Good idea" Rory said eagerly. The room, courtesy of Steph's parents had a TV attached to the wall and some movies in shelving beside it. Clearly the rich had a lot of influence around here.

After getting ready for bed they sat and watched 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', complete with snacks and drinks from the mini fridge (Lorelai's idea). They turned in about midnight and Rory drifted off to sleep feeling happier than she had in a long time. She only hoped tomorrow would go as well as today had gone, but she had a new friend to help her through the day so that was a relief.

* * *

><p><em>BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!<em>

"Argh" Rory moaned rolling over in bed and pulling the pillow over her ears trying to block the sound. "Turn it off!"

"It's on your side" Steph groaned, pulling her quilt further over her head.

Muttering incoherently Rory rolled over and hit the clock, hard.

"It can't be time to get up yet" she mumbled, her voice muffled through her pillow.

"Mmm" was the response from the other side of the room.

It was silent for a few minutes when a loud knock sounded at the door.

"What the hell?" Steph groaned

"You get it" said Rory

"No you your closer"

"Am not"

"Are too"

"Am…" they were interrupted by another knock.

"Steph!"

"Rory!"

"Oh fine I'll go" Rory mumbled as she staggered out of bed, her hair in her eyes and grabbed her dressing gown while making her way blindly to the door.

"Coffee and Bagels for a Rory Gilmore" said the man on the other side of the door. He was wearing an apron and uniform that she guessed came from a local café.

"Umm, that's me" she said slightly confused "Who's this from?"

"A Christopher Hayden" the guy said handing over two large coffee cups and a bag of food.

Rory smiled, touched that her father had remembered to do this and gone to the trouble of organising it for her.

"Thanks" she said "Do I need to pay you or…?"

"No that's all been taken care of; you have a good day now"

"You too" she replied as he walked away.

Steph was sitting up in bed as she closed the door.

"Your dad arranged that all the way from Canada?" she asked looking surprised.

Rory nodded, smiling.

"Wow" Steph said

"There's plenty of food here if you want some" she offered as she glanced in the bag and saw the amount of food "I don't think even I could eat all of this"

"Yum" said Steph smiling herself.

* * *

><p>An hour later they were walking along the corridors of the school on the way to their first class. Rory glanced nervously in a mirror as they passed one. Deciding that they wanted the new Rory to start then, she and Steph had altered her uniform, not enough to look sluttish but enough to look different.<p>

She was wearing a short, slightly puffed out skirt that ended an inch or so above the regulation and a pair of thin black tights. A fitted shirt hung on her curves, but not too tightly and a boy's tie was hung loosely around her neck. Her blazer was hanging loosely on her shoulders and was undone and fitted (thanks to Lorelai) with a couple of broaches as decoration above the school logo. She had on the new Jimmy Choos as Steph had said they would be allowed and some bracelets and a watch decorated her wrists, as well as a ring that her mother had given her before she left that she had worn through high school.

Overall she was really pleased and loved the new look, but now it was time for people to finally see it she was getting worried.

"Don't worry you look great" Steph said smiling at her "You'll knock them dead, trust me"

Rory couldn't help but smile herself, starting to believe what her ever enthusiastic roommate said, she looked so convinced.

They rounded a corner and almost immediately they were hit by the loud voices and banging of other students. Rory stared around her at all of the people that lined the hallways. It looked so familiar, the girls by the locker giggling together, the guys doing their stuff, the usual things that happened in a corridor in school. On the other hand though, it all looked alien. It was a new school, different people who would have their own style and personality and a completely new set up as all of these people would be living with her.

"Love!" a familiar voice shouted from a little way down the hall. She turned to see Finn making his way towards them, a slightly shorter brown haired guy, who looked far more serious than his companion following close behind him.

"Hey Finn" Rory said smiling at him as he approached.

"Looking as gorgeous as ever I knew I wasn't remembering you wrong" he said grinning and she blushed at his words "Oh, and this is Colin, my beautiful friend here" he said gesturing to the guy next to him "and Colin this is Rory, Steph's new roommate" he said gesturing to her. She remembered Steph telling her about him the night before.

"Pleased to meet you" she said smiling at him.

"You too" he said back, nodding. "Hey Steph" he said to her friend, smiling himself.

"Hey yourself" Steph replied, smiling back. Rory didn't miss the way their eyes met but then quickly looked away again, or how they seemed nervous around each other. The clearly liked each other. She looked at Finn who winked.

"How was you're first night?" Colin asked, turning his attention back to Rory.

"It was good thanks, I've enjoyed it so far" he nodded in understanding.

"Where's Logan?" Steph asked, looking around

"Off with his new girl" Colin said rolling his eyes as he watched Finn smirk at a near by red head who just looked away.

"Same one as last night or different?" Steph replied

"Different" Colin said rolling his eyes again as Steph shook her head looking amused "Would you expect anything else?"

"Nope"

"Love come back, I think we have a beautiful future together" Finn yelled suddenly and began to follow the same red head as before down the corridor"

Rory laughed as the other two shook their heads. "He gets worse" Steph said with a slightly exasperated look "He's like a two year old"

"You didn't have to spend the entire summer with him" Colin replied dryly.

As Rory looked around she saw that most of the people were looking her way. She looked down and blushed; she hated being the new student. There was nothing interesting, why couldn't they just leave her alone?

She was interrupted from her thoughts by the bell ringing. As people started to go in to class rooms she remembered that she didn't have the same homeroom as Steph and another feeling of fear spread through her.

"You're in that room there" Steph said pointing to a door that had H2 written on it. "Mrs Jackson isn't too bad if you get on the right side of her. Sorry I can't go in with you" she smiled apologetically.

"It's fine" Rory said smiling weakly

"I'll meet you in third period as we don't have the same second together either. I'll see you later"

"Good Luck" Colin said, smiling at her himself.

"Thanks see you later" Rory said as she turned to go towards the classroom.

Taking a deep breath she pushed the door open. The room was set out in the general way in which most classrooms were set out, rows of desks that sat two people, windows down the side and a few posters on the walls. Every eye in the room was on her as she headed towards the teachers desk.

"Hi I'm Rory Gilmore" she said smiling nervously "I've just transferred here from the States".

Mrs Jackson was a middle aged women with shoulder length brown hair and glasses. She smiled as she looked at Rory and picked up a couple of papers off of the desk.

"Welcome to Andover" she said handing them over "I'm Mrs Jackson and I'll be your form tutor and your History teacher. There is no seating plan in this period so take a seat where you like"

"Thank you" Rory murmured and walked over to an empty desk by the window, keeping her eyes fixed on the floor.

The next twenty minutes passed slowly as Mrs Jackson gave the usual beginning of term lectures about uniform and procedure. That wasn't the reason however. Throughout the whole class she could feel at least one pair of eyes on her and she sat uncomfortably through it. It was a huge relief when the bell finally rang and she practically leapt out of her seat to get to Physics as fast as she could, hoping that Colin or Finn would be in that class.

Before she could get out of the door however someone stepped in front of her. Resisting the urge to scream she looked up in to the persons face.

In front of her was a light brown haired guy of medium height with green eyes and a slightly smug looking face. His eyes ran over her and back up to her face again and his smirk widened.

"Hi" he said "I'm Jack Hardy and you must be Rory"

"Um, yeah hi" she said shifting uncomfortably and looking around for an escape route, not liking the way he was looking at her.

"Listen, I was thinking that I could walk you to your next lesson and then meet up at break so I can give you a tour of the school"

She froze. This was not what she wanted, she didn't want to be harsh and turn him down, especially at a new place but she didn't want to go with him.

"Thanks but that's really not necessary" she said politely "and I already said I would meet my roommate for break"

"I'm sure she won't mind"

Rory paused, ready to give in but then remembered that she was supposed to be confident and calm and decided not to.

"I really can't today, maybe another time"

His smirk faltered but he didn't stop. "Well then I am defiantly walking you to your next class, make up for lost time."

"I…" she looked around, starting to get a bit desperate and her eyes met a pair of chocolate brown ones, but before she could look at who they belonged to, Jack interrupted her thoughts.

"Come on lets go" he said impatiently

"I can't" Rory said quickly

"Why not?" he said his eyes narrowing

"Umm…" she stopped desperately trying to think of a good excuse "I…"

"Rory!" someone called suddenly and a guy came up beside her. They both turned and Rory was faced with the same eyes from before. She looked at who they belonged to and blinked slightly. He was gorgeous. He was of medium height with blonde hair casually spiked on his head. His uniform was relaxed and he had an easy smile.

"I'm here to walk you to your next lesson like we arranged" he said, laying an arm over her shoulders. He turned to Jack, his expression calm "Hey Jack, what's up?"

Jack looked at Rory, suddenly nervous in front of this guy. Rory smiled at him brightly, laying her hand on the guys arm around her shoulder.

"I, err, nothing, I'll go. Umm, see you later Rory"

"Bye!" she said brightly as he hurried from the room.

She turned to the blonde guy and smiled in relief.

"Thank you!" she said gratefully.

He smiled back "You looked stuck"

"I was"

"Well, glad to be of service" he said "Rory right?" he said offering his hand for her to shake.

"Yeah, Rory Gilmore" she said reaching for it.

"Logan Huntzburger" he said as they shook, smiling lightly at her.

**A/N: Well there's that chapter done, I hope you liked it. Logan will come in to it a lot more in the next chapter and you will get to know the group a lot better.**

**Please review and I will send a small part of the next chapter to anyone who does so, like before. This time it will be slightly longer than I sent before so I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed the story so far, I am really pleaded with the response so far and it is nice to know that people are reading.**

**I couldn't send some excerpts to some reviewers because private messaging wasn't turned on, but I hoped that everyone I did send one to enjoy it, thank you to those who sent feedback.**

**This is another long chapter, so I hope you enjoy it.**

Recap:

_She turned to the blonde guy and smiled in relief._

"_Thank you!" she said gratefully._

_He smiled back "You looked stuck"_

"_I was"_

"_Well, glad to be of service" he said "Rory right?" offering his hand for her to shake._

"_Yeah, Rory Gilmore" she said reaching for it._

"_Logan Huntzberger" he said as they shook, smiling at her lightly._

She paused slightly upon hearing the name. This must have been the guy that Steph and Colin were talking about earlier that morning when they mentioned him going off with different girls. Rory tried to think back to what Steph had told her about him. From what she remembered they had met at a society party when they were really young and again at a boarding school as he and Colin had grown up together. Apparently they had ended up going to a few together over the years, meeting Finn in the process, and had all become good friends.

On top of that however she remembered Steph telling her that he was a player, and liked to have a new girl every night, from the sound of it he also liked to drink and party.

Right then he was looking at her with a smirk and slightly raised eyebrows, and she realised that she hadn't said anything since he introduced himself.

"Um, well thanks again…Logan" she said smiling hesitantly at him, suddenly aware that they were the only ones left in the classroom.

"No problem" he said, his smirk widening as he saw her nervousness "What class are you in next?"

"Err, Physics with Mr Wallace" she said standing up straighter, not wanting him to think that he had any power over her if she looked nervous. This was the new her, she was supposed to be confident and a guy like Logan shouldn't intimidate her. Besides if he was friends with Steph then he couldn't be too bad, right?

He nodded, noting her change in body language. "I'm in there next" he said calmly "I told Hardy that I would walk you to your next lesson and since your new and likely to be wandering around lost, it would be rude not to" his smirk was still in place and he somehow still seemed to look superior to her.

"Well I guess you owe me then" she said meeting his gaze head on and staring confidently in to his brown eyes.

He stared back and they just stood there for a minute when he nodded. "Let's go then" he said offering her his hand to take.

She took it quickly and he looked surprised for a moment, evidently expecting her to blush and hesitate, before grinning and starting towards the door.

The corridors were starting to empty and she realised that they had been in the classroom longer than she initially thought. She was hyper aware of her hand in his as he lead her along the corridor towards the physics labs and it took all her concentration not to turn to look at the guy walking along beside her. It would do no good for him to catch her staring at him.

"So what room are you staying in?" Logan asked breaking the silence, though he didn't look at her when he said it.

"Umm, number 64, block B" she replied keeping her eyes straight ahead.

He turned to look at her with a slightly surprised face. "You're rooming with Steph?" he asked

"Yeah" Rory said, smiling at the mention of her eccentric roommate.

"So you're the girl that Finn was going on about last night" he said in amusement.

"I guess so" she began "We met yesterday, I bumped in to him in the corridor" she blushed slightly at the memory.

"I heard" he said, his smirk widening "I must say, we thought he was exaggerating when he told us about you but now I'm not sure that he was" his eyes ran over her body suggestively and she looked to the side not meeting his eyes.

"Umm" she said, shifting slightly uncomfortably, but his gaze wasn't like she was there as someone to play with, he seemed to see her.

He smirked again calmly and stopped as they reached a door. She could hear the chatter coming from inside the room so the class obviously hadn't started yet. Rory was slightly relieved; she didn't really want to be late for her classes on the first day.

Logan pushed open the door to the room and led her inside. A few people looked up and glanced between her and Logan looking surprised. She realised that her hand was still in his and blushed, uncomfortable at people's gazes on her. Some of the guys were looking at her appraisingly and the girls had jealousy in their eyes, clearly Logan was popular and they all wanted his attention.

She was so focused on the rest of the room that she didn't notice that Logan had led her to a desk at the back and she had automatically sat down. She blinked in surprise and saw him looking at her with amusement.

"Alright there?" he asked his smirk back in place.

"Never better" she said, smirking herself to show him that he wasn't the only one who could play at that game. He smiled slightly at her response, his expression still amused, when the teacher walked in and she turned her attention to the front of the room.

Mr. Wallace, the tall aging physics teacher had a very direct manner of teaching. He had straggly brown hair that ended at the nape of his neck that was just starting to go grey and a pair of glasses perched on the end of his beak like nose. He had a no nonsense attitude and got straight down to the work, starting a lecture almost immediately and everyone had to start taking notes. This suited Rory as she was relieved that he hadn't asked her to introduce herself and he seemed like a pretty good teacher.

The one distraction however, was the person sitting next to her. She could feel his gaze on her quite often throughout the lesson and she was shifting in her seat uncomfortably. She would feel his breath on her neck every now and then and a shiver would pass through her body. She glared at him the fourth time it happened, but he just kept his eyes on the front of the room, expression innocent. Altogether though, she came to the conclusion that it would be best to ignore him and focus until the lesson was over.

That however didn't quite work out when he assigned them to talk about some ides with their partner for the next ten minutes. Sighing, she turned to Logan.

"You don't look particularly cheery" he noted, evidently pleased by the fact that he was irritating her and making her uncomfortable.

"This isn't funny" she snapped "Some of us are trying to learn here."

"Hey, who says I'm not. I wasn't aware I was doing anything wrong"

"Right of course you weren't, it was all completely coincidental"

He raised his hands in the air, and would of looked innocent if it weren't for the smirk still on his face.

"Enlighten me" he said "What was I doing?"

"You were…" Rory paused, not being able to say he was breathing on her for fear of sounding stupid.

He raised his eyebrows questioningly, the infuriating expression still on his face.

"Ugh, you know what you were doing, God you're infuriating!" She said in frustration, glaring at him as his expression stayed the same.

"Well I must say you're hot when you're all riled up" he said looking at her appraisingly "Angry works for you."

Her glare intensified and she felt like she wanted to hit him. She was shocked at herself; she wasn't normally a violent person. He was bringing out a whole different side of her and she had only known him for less that an hour.

She also noticed that a few couples of people around the room were staring at her with shocked expressions. She frowned slightly and looked at Logan who had a bemused expression on his face and she realised that people didn't argue with him very often. He obviously had lots of girls practically falling at his feet. They had also attracted the attention of the teacher and she realised that they must have been louder than she thought.

"Mr Huntzberger, Miss Gilmore, do we have a problem here?" he asked raising his eyebrows with a stern look. Rory flushed and opened her mouth to speak but Logan beat her to it.

"No Sir" he said calmly, not seeming at all phased "Just getting to know the new student" He even smirked at the teacher, Rory felt her anger rise again as she waited for Mr Wallace to shoot him down, but to her surprise he only gave them another sharp look and went back to what he was doing.

She looked at Logan again to find him looking back in amusement. He had clearly known that he wouldn't get in trouble, for what reason she wasn't sure but she guessed it had something to do with money. That was when she remembered what his name was and it clicked.

"Wait, did you say your name was Huntzberger?" she asked shocked.

An expression passed across his face that she couldn't quite read, halfway between expectancy and … disappointment.

"Yeah" he said slowly.

"As in Mitchum Huntzberger, the newspaper Mongol?"

He nodded slowly, seeming slightly surprised this time. Most people knew the family for how much money they had, not what his father did.

"Wow, it must be amazing to have him as a father, I mean the inspiration!"

He laughed without humour. "I wouldn't quite say that, I'm not exactly on good terms with my Dad"

Rory nodded herself, remembering something Steph had said about Logan's family the night before. She didn't say anything for a minute when he spoke.

"You say he's an inspiration to you, so you're in to journalism?"

"Yeah definitely" she nodded enthusiastically "It's my dream to be an oversees correspondent"

He raised his eyebrows; she wasn't like other girls that was for sure. She was interested in actual work rather than money.

"Well maybe one day you'll get there" he said quietly

She smiled at him and he was shocked at how truly gorgeous she was when she smiled. They stared at each other for a minute when the bell rang, making them jump.

"You ready to go?" he asked "Did you say earlier that you were meeting your roommate now, and that's Steph right?"

"Yeah I am, and yes she is" Rory replied answering both his questions.

"I'm going to meet Colin and Finn and they'll probably be together so would you care to join me?"

"I will" she said smiling and to her surprise, so did he, his first smile and not a smirk.

They walked along in a comfortable silence for a few minutes when she spoke.

"So do you room with both Colin and Finn?" she asked conversationally.

He shook his head "No, just with Colin. Neither of us could bare sharing with Finn, he's a nightmare to live with, especially when he's going through one of his naked phases"

"Naked phases?" she asked shocked and slightly alarmed.

"Oh yeah, they come around every six months or so" he shuddered at some picture in his head.

"Okayy" Rory said shaking her head in bemusement "So who does have to room with him if you don't?"

"No one" Logan said laughing "He's had a few roommates but every one of them have complained and asked to be moved after a week so they just gave up."

Rory laughed herself, rolling her eyes at that. They rounded the corner at that point and someone called out her name.

"Rory!"

They both looked up to find Steph waving at them from a bench, with Colin beside her and Finn leaning on a lamppost next to it. As they headed towards them the others moved to walk towards them.

"You met Huntzberger then" Finn said cheerily as he grinned at Rory "You two look happy, what was so funny?"

They paused as Rory got a mental image that she really didn't want. She struggled to contain her laughter glanceing at Logan to see him doing the same thing.

"Nothing" she said, looking innocently up at him, her blue eyes widening for effect.

"Hey!" Finn exclaimed.

Steph and Colin laughed.

"So how did this morning go?" Steph asked, her face going slightly more serious, or as serious as she could get. "Did you meet anyone else apart from Blondie here?"

"It was fine" Rory said, smiling as Logan glared at Steph for the name. "I met one guy, Jack Hardy" she frowned slightly, not liking the memory.

Steph frowned. "I can't say I'm surprised, but he's a bit of a creep…"

"A bit of one?" Finn interrupted "he's a complete pig, if I do say so myself"

Colin rolled his eyes muttering something that sounded like 'you can talk'.

Steph ignored them and carried on.

"It was alright though? He didn't try anything?"

Rory shook her head "I think he would have done, he kept trying to walk me to class and meet up with him later, but Logan saved me" she smiled at him.

"How chivalrous of you" Colin said looking amused.

"Hey, she looked stuck; it was my responsibility to get her out. Besides, we spent a _lovely_ physics lesson together" Logan replied, but he smiled instead of smirking and he somehow seemed genuine when he said it.

She noticed Steph shoot him a warning look from the corner of her eye and frowned slightly. She wasn't entirely sure what it was for, but Logan didn't seem particularly bothered about it.

"What have you got next?" Colin asked, looking at Rory and breaking her out of her previous thoughts.

"Double Trig with Mrs Adams I think" she replied.

"Another brainy person!" Finn dramatically said "We thought it was just Colin who could do stuff like that, and maybe Logan but he can never be bothered so that doesn't count, but evidently not".

"I like learning" Rory shrugged.

The three guys just blinked at her.

"What?" she asked looking confused

"You just said you liked lessons" Logan said as if it was obvious.

"Yeah" she said frowning "You don't get anywhere if you don't learn"

Finn grinned. "This is going to be interesting"

Steph laughed "You should see her book collection; it could form a library on its own"

"You mean there are actual books in your room now" Colin asked amusedly and Steph glared at him.

"Well, it'll be good to have someone who works at least slightly hard around here" Colin said turning his attention back to Rory "Who knows, it might do us all good"

"We could have study nights!" Finn exclaimed, now sounding excited "I'll bring the alcohol!"

"I don't think that will be needed" Rory said calmly, she was getting used to Finn and his attitude now.

"You can never be sure about no alcohol Love"

She smiled.

"We already said no sleepovers Finn, so don't get your hopes up" Steph said looking amused.

He made a noise that sounded like a whine and they all chuckled.

"That's the bell" Colin said as a ringing sounded all around the courtyard "I've got trig with Mrs Adams now too so lets go. Later" he said looking at the others.

Rory nodded, relieved that they all seemed friendly and helpful. It looked like she was maybe making friends other than Steph and she was really happy about that.

"Yeah, we'll see you both later then" Steph said smiling as they started to break off from the group "Oh and Rory, I forgot to mention about the school newspaper that runs that I thought you might be interested in, I think there's a meeting after school today"

"Ok thank you" Rory said smiling back, pleased that she could get in to a paper here "I'll see you later everyone"

"See you later Love" Finn said cheerily as he started off after two girls that must have also been in his next lesson, Steph going with him.

"See you at lunch Ace" Logan said, his face halfway between a smirk and a smile.

"Ace?" she asked, looking confused.

"As in Ace reporter" he said smirking properly now "I though you were supposed to be a genius"

"I never said that" she said, but smiled all the same "See you at Lunch"

He nodded and started walking off after Steph and Finn, who were waiting by one of the doors for him.

She turned back to Colin who was looking between her and Logan with an odd expression on his face.

"Err, are you ready to go then?" she asked, as he seemed to be lost in thoughts.

"What, oh yeah it's this way" he said as he began to lead her across campus.

Rory shook her head, slightly confused as she walked along beside him, wondering what he had been thinking. As they walked along the corridors more people turned to look at her but she was getting used to it now and she felt like she had people she knew around now, that seemed to want to be friends, at least she hoped.

She and Steph were becoming increasingly closer and Finn seemed to like her a lot as did Colin. Logan seemed nice to, though a little confusing, but he had said that he would see her a lunch so that was a good sign. Although he was obviously quite a player around the school he didn't seem to have the mean streak that Tristan sometimes showed and he didn't seem to be intent on embarrassing her all of the time.

She smiled slightly at the though of seeing him again and shook her head. Where did that come from? Quickly clearing her mind she walked in to the room which was evidently her trig class.

Colin didn't seem to mind her being with him so she took the seat next to him on one of the sides of the room. He looked visibly relieved when she did so and she raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Trisha Parks" he said, shuddering slightly.

"Who?"

"Brown hair in the corner" he muttered, keeping his eyes on her. Rory glanced up to see a tall, skinny girl who looked scarily like a ferret glaring at her through thin shaped brown eyes. She supposed that to some people she was pretty but Rory couldn't quite see it, not with that expression on her face anyway.

"She likes you" she stated, not needing to question, it was obvious.

"It's bordering on obsession" he said "Since the beginning of this year and the first lesson in here she's been around me"

"You don't like that?" she asked since both he Finn and Logan all seemed to like the attention of the girls.

"Not that obsessed, and definitely not from her. She scares me" he muttered the last part quietly but Rory heard and laughed.

He shot her a dirty look. "Don't laugh Gilmore, wait until something like this happens to you, you won't be smiling then"

"I doubt that will happen" Rory said.

"I wouldn't be surprised" Colin said and before she could say anything else the teacher walked in to the room.

"Welcome back" Mrs Adams said "This term we will be stepping up the work level as we are coming up to your final exams of this year. That however shouldn't be a problem as everyone in here is capable of doing it all and if you are not then you can leave; I don't have time for you"

"Intense" Rory murmured looking at the teacher with wide eyes.

Colin nodded and they both quickly got their books out to start taking notes as not to give her a reason to give a lecture on working hard.

* * *

><p>The rest of the lesson before lunch had gone smoothly and she was currently in the bathroom ready to go in to the cafeteria. She had expected double trig to be terrible but Colin turned out to be really nice and no where near as up tight once she got to know him. He was fun, so the time passed reasonably quickly.<p>

Rory just turned to leave the bathroom to go meet the others before lunch when the door opened and three girls walked in.

They were all dressed clothes that Rory couldn't believe were allowed, and were pretty in a bimbo sort of way. They all had dyed hair up to the roots, which were starting to show and their faces were covered in make up, with lip gloss making their lips shine alarmingly. Never the less, they were definitely what you would call attractive. The other thing was that they all wore expressions of dislike, which seemed to be directed towards her. She blinked suddenly feeling that she was having a complete 'Mean Girls' moment.

"Umm, hi" she said, shifting uncomfortably under their gazes "I'm Rory Gilmore, can I help you?"

The tallest in the middle with blonde hair and a giant headband spoke. "I'm Beth and this is Mandy and Becca"

The other two girl's one brunette and one with a light chestnut nodded at her coolly.

Rory smiled tightly, wondering what the Hell they could want.

"Can I help you?" she asked again, keeping her voice polite and smiling sweetly.

"We want to know what's going on between you and Logan Huntzberger" the blonde, Beth, spoke again, her voice accusing.

Rory frowned, slightly shocked at these girls coming in here and asking questions sounding like she had done something wrong.

"Err, nothing" she said slowly "I just met him today, there's nothing going on"

The brunette sneered "Right. There's a line to get to him you know" she snapped.

Rory blinked. A line? To get to one guy? This was completely insane. She knew that Logan was popular with them, she could tell, but really? She wondered if Logan knew about the 'line' himself.

"Okay…"

"You can't push in the line" the chestnut haired girl said, Rory wasn't sure whether she was Mandy or Becca "Anyway, you are with them all, we've seen you. You can't just come here and get it on with the three richest and good looking guys in the school."

Rory just stared at her. Was she totally, obsessively crazy?

"I'm not 'getting it on' with any of them!" She cried, getting angry "I've just met them, we're friends!"

"Just stay away from them" Beth sneered "We don't care if your Steph's roommate or not, she's a Bitch herself." They turned to leave and she turned again speaking for the last time "Oh, and Logan's mine"

Rory froze, getting angry at the way they talked about Steph and her assumption on Logan.

"Hey!" she said furiously "Don't you dare call Steph that! I don't care who you are around here. To be honest it doesn't matter, I'm done dealing with Bitchy girls like you. If you're so popular and everyone loves you then why haven't Colin, Finn and Logan ever mentioned you? The only people I have seen other guys look at around here is Steph. You're just a bunch of jealous wannabe's"

They looked furious.

"How dare you? You…" but Rory quickly interrupted Beth's sentence.

"Just go away, I don't care what you have to say and to be honest I don't think anyone else does, so don't ever try to threaten me because I'm done with that. Now leave me alone so I can go meet my friends for lunch"

They all paused and started to mumble a few words but couldn't seem to get them out properly. With an annoyed huff and a flip of their over dyed hair they stormed out the room.

Rory looked round to see Steph standing in the doorway and she wondered how much of that conversation had been overheard.

"Steph…"

Steph grinned and cut her off.

"That was brilliant! No one else has ever talked to them like that before, aside form me. Nobody likes them but they are to mardy to argue with. They needed to be put in their place. It's good you didn't let them threaten you"

Rory smiled.

"I can't be dealing with girls like that anymore" she said "I wasn't going to let them treat me like that, I'm done with it"

Steph nodded "Well it was great, you did great! Now the guys are waiting and I'm starved so let's go to lunch"

"Mmm food" Rory said grinning, then realising how hungry she was.

Steph laughed and both girls left the bathroom together cheerily.

**A/N: Thanks for reading. Things will start to heat up a bit more with Logan in the next chapter and Rory will attend the first party at Andover.**

**Please review to tell me what you thought of this chapter and again I will send an excerpt back.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Okay, here is Chapter seven. Things start to heat up between Rory and Logan in this chapter and you get to know some new characters and ones that have already been in the story more. **

**Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter, i really appriciate everyone who has done so. **

**I hope you enjoy it!**

_Recap:_

_Rory looked round to see Steph standing in the doorway and she wondered how much of that conversation had been overheard._

"_Steph…"_

_Steph grinned and cut her off._

"_That was brilliant! No one else has ever talked to them like that before, aside form me. Nobody likes them but they are to mardy to argue with. They needed to be put in their place. It's good you didn't let them threaten you"_

_Rory smiled._

"_I can't be dealing with girls like that anymore" she said "I wasn't going to let them treat me like that, I'm done with it"_

_Steph nodded "Well it was great, you did great! Now the guys are waiting and I'm starved so let's go to lunch"_

"_Mmm, food" Rory said grinning, then realising how hungry she was._

_Steph laughed and both girls left the bathroom together cheerily._

Lunch had gone pretty well and Rory had gotten to know the group a lot more; Finn had told her about his family in Australia and Colin about his in Hartford. It was hard to believe that in all the years that they had both lived there they had never met. Though she hadn't been in society until she was sixteen and he was away at boarding school a lot, so it was understandable.

Then there was Logan. The two of them had talked the most through the forty minutes that they got for dinner. She found out about his strained relationship with his parents and the expectations they had of him and how he was going to be made to run the family business. He had also mentioned his sister, Honor and how they were close and it turned out that he had met her Grandparents.

Rory could tell that he wasn't telling her everything, but by the look on the others faces it was more than he told most people. Then again, she wasn't telling him everything either. She had explained briefly why she left home but hadn't gone in to detail like she had with Steph. They were evidently curious, but they didn't push her and she was grateful for that.

By the end of it Rory was actually feeling at home. She felt that she could call the group her friends and felt accepted for the first time in a while. Aside from the scene in the bathroom with those girls, which Steph charmingly referred to as 'the three skanks', she felt welcome at Andover.

Her period after lunch she had been alone again and after a set of clear instructions form Colin, Rory had walked slowly along the corridor towards Geography. She had met a few other people in the lesson and they had all been very friendly as well. A group assignment had been set and two guys and two girls had offered for her to be in their group. Plans had been made to study in the library the next evening and she was planning on going to the paper when classes finished the next day to see if she could join.

Right at this moment however, she was standing in the middle of the dorm room waiting for Steph to come out of the shower before they went to a party. That was something she could hardly believe. She, Rory Gilmore, had been invited and persuaded to go to a party. On a school night.

When Logan had first asked her after Classes finished she had been surprised that the first party was so soon after the term started. Apparently it was a welcome back party that needed to be set before any other opportunities cropped up and they missed them.

As it turned out most of the rumours that were spread about Andover were true. Generally the teachers seemed quite lenient on the rules and uniform didn't have to be as perfect as it was at Chilton. They were throwing a party on the second night so that seemed to be true and as far as she could tell, the guys weren't too bad looking. Logan definitely wasn't. She paused thinking of his brown eyed gaze and blonde hair…

"Rory!"

She jumped as Steph called her name from the bathroom that they shared. Shaking her head at what she had been thinking before her roommate interrupted she answered quickly.

"Yeah?" she called back.

"I need a small favour" Rory could hear the slight pause in Steph's voice and knew there was a catch.

"What favour?" she asked cautiously, walking to the door of the bathroom to hear what was being said more clearly.

"I left my purse at Colin and Logan's dorm earlier and I need it like, really soon"

Rory paused. She was standing a bathrobe, her hair was soaking on a towel around her shoulders and she had absolutely no make-up on.

"Can't they just bring it to the party later?" she asked.

"It has my make up in it"

"You've got loads of make-up" Rory said incredulously, glancing at Steph's dressing table where the draws were hardly shutting they were that full.

"It has my favourite lip gloss, the cherry flavour, and the gold eye shadow. My cell phones in there to. Please Rory! I'm begging you!"

"But…"

"I will owe you forever, and I'll do your homework and help on the paper and…"

"Ok, ok, I'll go and get it" Rory said giving in since if Steph offered to do her homework and attend the paper, which in her words earlier had been called 'a place of un-graded Hell', she must have been desperate.

"Thank you! I love you!" Steph called back sounding relieved "Its number 82 in the guys building, Block A"

"Ok, I've got it" Rory said as she slid a jean skirt and a tank top on, not wanting to go out in a bathrobe.

Leaving her hair wet and her face make-up less she hurried out the door trying be seen by as few people as possible. 'Please let them be in' she thought to herself, cringing at the thought of standing outside of the door dressed like this and knocking for ten minutes.

Receiving a couple of odd looks from a few random guys down the hallway she climbed the oak stairs and scanned the corridor looking for number 82. That was when she caught the eyes of Jack Hardy as he left a room marked 77. His eyes widened at the sight of her and he seemed to lick his lips slightly and his gaze travelled up and down her body. Rory suddenly felt very exposed in the short skirt and strappy tank top and it didn't help that her hair was making it wet and her face was completely bare. He was looking at her as if she was naked and she shuddered slightly, quickly scanning the numbers on the door on the opposite side of the corridor whilst still feeling his eyes on her.

Then she saw it, an oak door at the end of the hallway with 82 in the usual big gold letters. She quickly knocked on the door, hoping Colin or Logan would hurry up and answer it so she could get out of the way of Jack's gaze.

There was no answer after a few seconds and she almost screamed. She knocked again, for longer and a lot louder, hoping someone inside would hear it.

Nothing.

Raising her hand to knock again the door swung open to reveal Logan dressed in nothing but a pair of dark blue jeans. She blinked in surprise and tried to avert her eyes from his toned chest and arms. Looking hurriedly up to meet his eyes she found him smirking at her in amusement.

"All right there Ace?" he asked, sounding amused as he took in her appearance himself.

"Umm, err, yeah, umm, I…" she mumbled as she tried to think of something to say. He smirked again, but there was something in his own eyes this time.

"I take it your not coming to the party like that" he said, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"No I'm not" she replied, finally getting a hold of herself "Steph asked me to come, apparently she left her purse here earlier and it has her favourite lip gloss in or something."

Logan rolled his eyes and Rory smiled at the slightly exasperated look on his face.

"I'll have a look" he said and was about to disappear in to the room when she stopped him.

"Hey, can I come in a second" she asked "I don't really want to stand out here like this, especially when he's around"

Logan glanced over her shoulder at Jack, who was still standing a little way off, and his eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, sure" he said, holding the door open so she could pass by him in to the room. With one last hard look at Jack, he quickly closed the door and walked towards the coffee table in the middle, evidently looking for Steph's missing purse.

As he looked, Rory glanced around the room. It was about the same size as her dorm, but with a slightly different shape. The whole room had the designer edge to it and Rory was willing to bet that most of the pieces in it cost a lot of money. They even had a leather couch pushed up against one wall, as they had an extra wall in the corner due to the shape. A couple of jackets were strewn over the couch and there were some shoes scattered about. What looked like poker cards and chips were spread out on the small table and some bottles of what looked like beer were next to them.

She raised her eyebrows. "You don't get caught with this stuff?" she asked looking around.

Logan shrugged "Occasionally" he said "But they don't really do anything but give you a few detentions and send a letter to your parents, which mine never read. Most of the time though they don't bother, or we see them checking and delay them until we have cleared up"

"Wow" Rory said, not really believing it. It was so much more relaxed here, at Chilton you probably would have gotten permanently kicked out for this stuff. Then again, she had never even got a detention and Logan didn't seem bothered about getting one himself.

"Ah, this must be it" Logan said, interrupting her from her thoughts, holding up the sliver Chanel purse that Rory had seen Steph with the day before.

"Yeah it is, thanks" she said, taking it from him "I better get ready, we're going soon aren't we?"

"In about half and hour or something" he replied glancing at the clock.

Rory nodded "Ok then. Thanks again, I'll see you later" she smiled.

"Yeah see you later" he said as he walked her to the door "And tell Steph not to be late this time, Colin will flip his lid if we have to wait ages for her again."

"I'll tell her" Rory said, laughing whilst slipping out the door.

She was relieved to see that Jack was nowhere to be found when she headed back toward her room but she did however run in to Beth, though this time there was no sign of her two cronies, which surprised Rory a little bit as she had always thought that girls like that ran in packs.

Beth had blinked at her appearance, looking surprised, before her face quickly turned in to a sneer.

"What are you doing, having an early night" she asked looking at Rory in distaste "Where have you been dressed like that?"

"At the moment I am going back to my room, I just had to get something from Logan's room" Rory said coolly, not especially wanting to get in to a fight with this girl in the middle of the hallway "Then I'm going to get ready to go to the party"

Beth frowned and a possessive look crossed her face

"What were you doing at Logan's?" she asked, sounding angry.

Rory rolled her eyes "I don't really think that's any of your business"

Beth scowled, that response seeming to anger her more and Rory grinned on the inside. The girl needed to know that she couldn't control everything around here.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him" she snapped.

Rory rolled her eyes. "And I told you I didn't care what you said" she replied in the same Bitchy voice that Beth had used "Now if you'll excuse me I have to go and get ready" with that she flipped her hair and started to walk towards her room.

"Wait" Beth's voice stopped her "What party?"

Rory turned back and frowned slightly, she didn't know about the party?

"Umm, the welcome back thing that everyone's going to" she replied, looking slightly confused.

"You've been invited to that?" Beth looked incredulous "Hardly anyone gets invited to that, you have to have been here ages and be _someone_ in this school to get to go."

"You haven't been invited?" Rory asked, though she was kind of confused, she thought everyone was going to that thing.

"Well…No, I haven't" the other girl looked uncomfortable and Rory could see the jealous look in her eyes and felt some satisfaction inside.

"Oh, well I guess I wont see you there then" Rory said, smiling sweetly "Now, like I said, if you'll excuse me I have to get ready".

Shooting another bright smile at Beth she turned and walked down the hallway. She was slightly confused about what the other girl had said, but let it pass, Steph had invited her herself and she seemed to know how it worked around here.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later she and Steph were just leaving the room, walking at super speed due to the fact that neither of them had been ready on time. Rory had been waylaid by her parents on the phone. She had spoken to her Dad first and had told him all about the day and the night before. He had been pleased when she told him she was going to a party and had told her to go and have fun.<p>

Her Mom's reaction had been quite similar and Rory knew that she was relieved that she was fitting in at Andover. They had talked a little bit about the day and Lorelai had been very interested about Logan, Beth and the others. She had laughed when Rory had told her about how she had dealt with the girls and told her to have fun tonight too. The only difference was that the conversation had ended up with a 'Don't do anything I wouldn't do' from Lorelai. That of course, extended to not a lot of things.

"So the party's off of the school grounds?" Rory asked Steph as they walked round the back of the tall buildings. It was dusk and there was starting to be a hazy shadow over everything, casting large areas of darkness by the blocks of the school.

"Yeah" Steph replied as they quickened the pace, realising how late they actually were "It would be rubbish if it was on site"

"So how come the teachers let us out, I mean they must notice surely"

Steph shrugged "They do, but there isn't a lot they can do about it. They give detentions but there are too many people and they don't want to be positioned by all the gates stopping people from leaving every night. Not everyone in the school goes anyway."

Rory looked at her in surprise, remembering what Beth had said earlier. "You said that everyone went and I couldn't not go." She said slightly accusingly.

"Well all of us go anyway" Steph said, looking slightly guilty "It's not just our school. Others in the area go too so this is a great chance for you to meet everyone that we know. Some people from the local collages and Universities attend as well, it's a great night. Everyone really worth knowing is there. You have to come, your one of us and we all go."

Rory wasn't sure how to react to that. Going to a party out of school and meeting people from other schools was going against everything she had ever done before. Then again, it would be a chance to meet new people and come out of her shell and after all, that had been what she came to England for in the first place. Other than that, she felt a feeling of happiness when Steph had described her as 'one of them' and she was pleased that they wanted her to be a part of their group.

"So not many people from this school are going" she asked.

Steph shook her head "Oh, no, quite a few of us are going from here, it's a big school and you haven't met everyone yet, you will tonight It kind of marks the start of the new term for everyone."

Rory nodded. She felt kind of pleased. Obviously only some people were allowed to go to some of the party's and from the look on Beth's face earlier, a lot of people wanted to. It was nice that she had been invited so soon after joining the school. Things were definitely going better than they had been at Chilton.

There was a taxi waiting for them as they reached to gate. Steph rolled her eyes.

"The guys must have left it for us" she explained "They obviously couldn't be bother to wait in Logan's limo so they ordered a taxi for us and went on separately. God, we're not that late, Colin's so impatient"

Rory smiled as they slid in, remembering Logan's words from earlier. Steph quickly reeled off an address to the Cab driver and they began to move along the quiet road toward the town.

"Logan has a limo?" Rory asked suddenly, picking up that detail from what Steph said.

"Yeah, his Dad sent it for him to use so he wouldn't accidentally crash his Porsche if he was drunk or not concentrating. It has a driver and everything, his names Frank" Steph grinned at some memory.

* * *

><p>The party was in full swing when they got there. It was in someone's house, if you could call it that. It made Madeline's place look miniscule in comparison. There were big staircases running through the entryway and tall pillars around the sides. The décor looked very expansive and the whole house was huge, with many rooms which Rory could tell half of which were never used.<p>

There were people everywhere and it looked like the house was completely full. She could see some tables of punch and alcohol in another main room and a couple of tables where people were lounging paying poker and betting against each other. It seemed that a lot of the people were drunk already and there were a lot of random couples making out.

"Wow" Rory said, looking around her in amazement "Whose house is this?"

"Seth's" Steph replied as they headed further in to the party "He goes to the other school in the area. We'll see him at some point tonight"

"His parents let him use it for a party?" Rory asked, staring at the chaos around her.

"They're out of town" Steph said off handedly "Seth does this a lot and this isn't their permanent home anyway, they have one some where else, I'm not sure where exactly."

"God" Rory murmured, hardly believing that someone would have another house like this.

"Hey, Steph! Rory!" someone called from across the crowded room and they both looked round to see Colin over by one wall talking to two brown haired guys, one with glasses and the other quite tall and thin.

"Hey Colin" Rory said, smiling as she reached them, Steph had gone to get a drink for the two of them, saying she would be back in a minute.

He smiled back and then turned to the guys he was with.

"Guys, this is Rory Gilmore, she's just joined Andover. Rory, this is Seth Johnson and Robert Delano" he gestured between the three of them.

"Hi" she said, smiling at them both "So this is your house?" she asked Seth, who seemed to be the guy with glasses.

"Yeah" he replied, smiling back easily "I offered to host again. I must be mad" he shook his head at himself and Rory laughed.

"It certainly seems quite wild" she said glancing around at all of the people.

"Oh it gets much worse, trust me" Robert said, entering the conversation "This is mild compared to what it will be like later on."

"Worse than this?" she asked looking surprised, it looked pretty crazy at the moment.

"Oh yeah" he replied while Seth nodded "A lot worse"

"I need a drink" Seth said "I don't know why I bother to do these things" he walked across the room to where the drinks seemed to be coming from when she felt an arm around her shoulder.

"Hello Love" Finn said cheerily as he pulled back slightly to look her in the eyes "I wondered when you would show up and I must say you look absolutely ravishing" he grinned.

Rory smiled, pleased by the comment. She was wearing a pair of low fitting dark blue jeans that clung to her legs and showed off her figure, a light pink top with sparkly roses sewn on to the one thin straps and on the neckline. She had been wearing a grey leather jacket earlier, but she had taken that off, and a pair of pink high heels. A sliver necklace with a diamante heart was hung around her neck and some silver bracelets adorned her wrists. She was pleased with the look, and although she wasn't dressed like some of the girls in next to nothing, she felt good.

"I agree" Robert said, looking over her himself.

"Thanks" Rory said, directing the response at both of them

"You owe me £100" Robert said looking at Finn then, who blinked innocently.

"Are you sure that's me?" he asked, batting his eyelashes at the other guy.

"Positive" Robert replied quickly and held out his hand for the money.

Finn grumbled something unintelligible under his breath and withdrew some cash from his back pocket.

"That was supposed to be for the poker game tonight" he said glaring at Robert, who shrugged.

"You already owe everyone in here enough money, I don't think playing tonight and adding more to that debt will improve anything." Colin said, looking at Finn with slightly raised eyebrows and an amused look.

"Who says I'll lose tonight" Finn said looking defensive and crossing his arms across his chest.

"You always lose" Colin stated calmly "You're always to drunk by the time the game starts."

"I object to that!" was the dramatic response and Colin just rolled his eyes.

Rory smiled at the group's banter, when Robert turned to her.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked, gesturing to the area in the lounge that had been set up as a sort of dance floor, where different couples were grinding against each other in time to the loud beat of the music.

"Umm..." Rory paused looking at Robert. He seemed nice enough and he was friendly. A lot of the people were dancing and she could see Steph had gotten distracted by some guy and had her arms around his neck, there faces close. Why shouldn't she? She had come to have fun after all.

"Yeah, sure" she said smiling.

"Excellent" he said, taking her hand and leading her on to the dance floor and she caught sight of Colin and Finn raising their eyebrows at her as she passed. She just shrugged.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he put his hands on her hips, his arms winding around her waist and bringing her close to him. She had never been this close to a guy other than Dean before, and even he had kept his distance, and she was hyper aware of every area that there body's were touching, but it wasn't exactly bad.

"So where are you from?" he asked his lips by her ear.

"Hartford" Rory replied glancing up at him "You?"

"New York" he answered

"You live there?" Rory asked "That must be amazing, surrounded by everything and that"

"It's good" he nodded "I wouldn't move, but it can get a bit hectic at times"

"You don't look like the sort of person who would mind that" Rory said, raising an eyebrow.

He grinned. "No, I can't say that I do"

She smiled and the settled in to a combatable silence. The song ended and somehow they had ended up really close and she could feel almost every inch of his body against hers. Not really sure how she felt about it she glanced around to see if she could see Steph.

There was no sign of her blonde roommate; in fact the only person she could see was Finn who seemed to be cornering two redheads. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Robert.

"I'm going to go and get a drink" she said pulling out of his embrace "Thanks for the dance. Do you want anything?"

"I'm good thanks" he replied "It looks like Seth's setting up another poker game so I'll go and join him. See you later Rory" he smiled at her as they started to move towards the edge of the room away from the crowded dance floor.

"Yeah, see you later" she relied as he headed off in the direction of a rectangular table with a few guys sat around it.

"Hey!" Steph appeared at her shoulder suddenly, her usually perfect blonde hair going slightly wild and her brown eyes bright.

"Hey" Rory said, pleaded to see the other girl "Where'd you go?"

"I met a guy" Steph said, grinning wickedly "His name was James…or Jason" she frowned slightly then shrugged "Anyway, we got talking and he asked me to dance. We're going to meet up again later. Was that Robert I saw you with?"

"Yeah" Rory said, smiling herself "Colin introduced us and he asked me to dance"

Steph raised her eyebrows "He's cute, a bit big headed, but cute. I've heard he's a good kisser"

"Steph!" Rory exclaimed "I had one dance with the guy, we're not going out or anything and I have no intention of hooking up with him tonight"

"Hey I'm just saying" Steph said holding her hands up "He's not a bad guy to know for the future" she smirked and Rory rolled her eyes.

"I'll take your word for it"

"Trust me. Anyway, we may as well take this opportunity to introduce you to everyone before they're all completely wasted, this way".

* * *

><p>About an hour and a half later she was standing by the drinks table again after being introduced to what felt like the entire party by Steph. Her roommate had now gone to meet the guy who it turned out was named Justin. Rory wasn't really expecting to see her again for the rest of the night judging by how a lot of the other people making out were ending up, so she had made sure she had the cab phone number on speed dial.<p>

Rory herself had ended up dancing with a few more guys in that time. She had been shocked when they had asked, thinking Robert had been the only one who was bothered about her. She was enjoying the attention though so had gone with them all. Dancing however, was as far as it had gone; she had no intention of going any further with a guy that she had just met at her first party.

"Hey Ace" a voice sounded by her ear and she turned to see Logan standing beside her, leaning against the table. He was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a black shirt that you could just see the shape of his abs through. His blonde hair was rumpled casually on his head and his face wore his signature smirk.

"Logan" she said surprised. She had only seen him briefly earlier and he had been making out with some blonde against a wall in one of the crowded rooms.

"How's your night been" he asked while his eyes trailed over her body, taking in her tight fitting jeans and skimpy top.

"Good so far" she replied "Steph's introduced me to everyone and I've danced with a few guys."

He nodded, his jaw tightening slightly but his eyes stayed the same, his smirk still in place

"I saw" he said and his gaze connected intensely with hers and she found herself slightly uncomfortable again.

"It's like nothing I've ever been to before" she said "We never had anything like this in Hartford, it's amazing"

Logan nodded "Yeah, we are known for our party's, it's what Andover's done for years, tradition"

"My Dad said it was like that when he was here" Rory replied.

A slower song suddenly stated throughout the party and the mood seemed to change. She found her eyes connecting with Logan's again and she blinked.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked, surprising her.

"Yeah" she said smiling, shocked that he had asked when he seemed to have about 50 or more girls fawning over him.

He led her over to the dance floor and she looped her arms around his neck, with his around her waist. She felt a jolt of electricity go through her when their body's touched. His breath was hot on her neck and she shuddered at the feeling. This was nothing like dancing with the other guys, it felt totally new and completely breath taking.

Their gazes locked and she lost herself in his chocolate brown eyes. It was like they were staring deep in to each others souls and she couldn't look away. They stayed like that for what could have been a few minutes or sixty. Time seemed to stand still.

The alcohol that she had consumed in the many glasses of punch that had been had drunk was starting to take effect and her eyes were starting to droop very slightly. She barley felt their heads starting to tilt towards each other and their lips coming closer until they were right there. His almost touching hers, just millimetres away.

They both paused, their gazes still locked, both realising where they were. His smell was intoxicating and Rory found herself losing her mind yet again and her body seemed to take over.

Somehow leaning forward very slightly, their lips brushed against each other with the lightest of touches. It sent small jolts through her and she gasped, eyes widening.

"I…" She started breathlessly, but didn't finish. She didn't want to. His lips crushed hers and she moaned in to his mouth. Pressing herself closer to him her hands wound in to his hair as she began to kiss him back as furiously as he was kissing her.

She felt like fire was shooting through her and her entire body tingled with electricity. Feeling his tongue lightly trace her lips asking for entrance she granted it eagerly, moaning when his tongue slid in and started exploring her mouth. His hands moved from around her waist, placing one just under her top to the bare skin at the small of her back and bringing her closer to him, the other winding in to her hair.

It went on like that for a few seconds longer; their lips working passionately against each other when they pulled back, gasping for air. His eyes met hers and Rory was mesmerised once again. Both pausing unable to look away from each other, both slightly shocked and unable to comprehend what had just happened, what had just flowed between them.

It was like no one but the two of them existed, they were completely in there own world. Rory's lips tingled with from the kiss and Logan's eyes were clouded with lust.

"Logan!" someone suddenly yelled in a high pitched nasally voice and the moment was shattered.

**A/N: Please review and tell me what you think. I should be updating a bit sooner that usual as i have one chapter written and another one on the way, but the more reviews i get, the quicker i will update.**

**As usual, i will send an excerpt of the next chapter anyone who reviews.**

**Thank you for reading and i hope you will continue to follow the story x **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I know i said that i would be posting this chapter a bit quicker than normal, but i've been really busy for the past week and i haven't had chance, so i'm sorry for that. I will try and update the next chapter a bit quicker instead.**

**Also, thank you so so much for all of the reviews. I got hte best response i have had so far form the last chapter and i am so pleased by that. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed so far, i raelly appriciate it.**

**Finally, i wnat to say that i will definitley be finishing this story, not just leaving it part done. A couple of you asked in reviews and PM's and i thought i would tell anyone else who wanted to know.**

**Anyway, this is chapter seven. Enjoy! **

_Recap:_

_It was like no one but the two of them existed, they were completely in there own world. Rory's lips tingled with from the kiss and Logan's eyes were clouded with lust._

"_Logan!" someone suddenly called in a high pitched nasally voice and the moment was shattered. _

Rory groaned as she rolled over in bed. Her head was pounding in a horribly painful way and her feet ached from the heels that she had been wearing for hours the night before.

Light was streaming in through the thin draperies and she squeezed her eyes tight shut when it burned them.

Ughh, she thought with a sigh. Alcohol didn't seem to agree with her and who knew how much of it they put in that punch.

"Steph" she murmured looking over towards the other bed. There was a distinct shape there and she could just see some blonde tendrils of hair on the pillow. Judging however, how bad she felt herself this morning and the fact that Steph had drunk about ten times the amount she had, it looked like the other girl was going to be asleep for a lot longer.

Glancing at the clock on the nightstand Rory sighed in relief. There was still forty five minutes until she had to get ready for classes, and she sank back in to the pillows staring up at the ceiling.

Flashes from the night before ran through her head and she thought about what went on.

_Flashback_

_They both turned at the voice and Rory blinked disorientated as she looked at the girl standing before them. _

_She was tall with long legs and looked skinnier than a lot of girls that Rory had ever seen before. She had Long hair that was mostly brown but that had bleached ends giving a two-tone effect. A pink dress, if you could call it that, adorned her skinny figure, matched with a pair of stilettos that would make Victoria Beckham stare in surprise. Her face was completely done up with make up, and hoop earrings hung from her lobes. She was pretty and would have been even more breathtaking if she hadn't currently been shooting glances at Rory with a look of sheer dislike on her face._

"_I've hardly seen you all night and you promised that we would spend some time together." she said smiling seductively at him "We could go upstairs and have some fun in one of the guest bedrooms."_

"_Right, err…" Logan paused, clearly not remembering the brunette's name. _

"_Claire" she said, her voice going slightly whiney and her eyes flickering to Rory in annoyance as if it was all her fault "So what do you say? Unless your to busy with her."_

"_It's Rory." Rory snapped in irritation, annoyed at the looks Claire was giving her._

"_Ok great" the girl snapped, glaring even more and then turning back to Logan "So, are you coming, I'm sure that I'm better than _Rory_ could be anyway." she smiled again, smugly this time._

_Rory herself froze as she suddenly felt herself come crashing back in to reality. What had she just done? She had made out with a guy that she had just met in front of an entire party of people. Logan was nice so far and had been nothing but friendly since she had arrived but Rory knew what kind of guy he was and about is reputation. She wasn't that kind of girl and never had been. The new her was one thing but Logan was Logan, he would be interested in getting laid tonight one way or another._

_That certainly wasn't going to be her. There was know way in hell that she was going to give up her virginity to a guy she had just met, no matter how nice he was. The girl was right, he would have a better time with her, Rory could be a friend to him and she wanted that but nothing more._

_Trying to ignore the memory of way the kiss had made her feel she turned to Logan._

"_You go." she said smiling at him, albeit weakly "I'm going to head back anyway, it's getting late and I don't want to be completely wrecked on my second day of school."_

"_Rory…" he started reaching out to grab her hand again as she started to back away._

"_Its fine," she said quickly "You have fun or whatever you do." she glanced at Claire blushing slightly._

"_You don't have to go." he said looking somehow regretful._

_At that look she almost stayed when Claire appeared and slid her arm around his waist and put her hand on his shoulder possessively. Of course not, she thought, he wouldn't have as good a time if he was with her, she may as well leave. _

"_I know, but I will. I'll see you tomorrow." smiling again, she started to turn to leave._

"_Wait!" he said and she turned slightly to look at him "Are you going back on your own?"_

"_Umm, yeah I don't think anyone else is ready to leave, they seemed to have disappeared."_

"_Then how are you going to get back?"_

"_I've got the cab number on my phone; I will call them and catch one back to school."_

"_Not at this time you won't. It will take ages for a cab to come and you can't take one on your own at one in the morning."_

"_I'll be fine; I can take a cab by myself Logan."_

"_You can't" he insisted calmly._

"_Then how am I going to get back" she asked getting impatient, although his concern was touching, she just wanted to go._

"_Take my Limo" he said._

"_What" she asked confused now._

"_Take my Limo, it will be safe and you will probably get back in half the time."_

"_Don't you need it though?" she asked, shocked that he would offer that to her._

"_I'll get a cab later with one of the others, I will be fine."_

"_You just said that you shouldn't take cabs at night!" she said incredulously_

"_I said that you shouldn't take cabs at night alone" he corrected "I won't be alone"_

_She humphed "You don't have to do this"_

"_I know, I want to. Now stop arguing and go or it will be morning by the time you get home."_

"_Thank you." she said smiling at him._

_He nodded "I'll see you tomorrow. Now go and I'll call Frank to pick you up out front."_

_The last thing she saw before she went was Claire glaring at her in jealousy._

_End of Flashback_

It had definitely been an interesting night.

After she had left the party and went outside a long black limo had pulled up in front of her. She had never ridden in a car like it before and it was incredible. The past day had really been an insight behind how the other half lived.

Then there was Logan. Try as she might Rory couldn't stop thinking about him. The kiss.

He had kissed her in a way that no one had before. With Dean it had always been slow and careful, like she was a china doll that he might break if he was too rough. With Logan it was fast and passionate and it sent shockwaves through her entire body.

There was no denying the feeling there too; the sparks that had flowed between them when their lips met, the electric feeling whenever their body's touched. It was incredible and completely breathtaking.

Dean had never made her feel like that, not ever. Sure, kissing him had been nice, but it wasn't like that, not even close.

It could have been the fact that Logan was an incredibly good kisser. With what she had heard about him from almost everyone he would kiss just about any girl. Was that what she was to him? Just another girl?

Rory sighed and rolled over in bed, pulling a pillow over her head with a groan. It was all so confusing. She had only been here a day and her head already hurt; and that wasn't from the alcohol.

With an annoyed sigh she sat up. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep anymore, not with everything running through her head. She would get up, get ready, and then go down to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Steph was still under the covers; her shape not moved an inch since Rory had last looked. Guessing that waking her would be useless Rory headed over to the bathroom to get a shower.

The warm water of the spray was soothing and helped clear her head slightly and as she climbed out of the shower she had made her decision.

It would be better to act like nothing ad happened the night before and carry on as normal. If she saw Logan she would ignore the feeling that he evoked inside of her and treat him as a friend and nothing more, like with Colin and Finn. If he brought it up himself she would blame it on the alcohol consumption and tell him to forget that it ever happened.

Yes, that would work. It wasn't the right to get in to a relationship, and she was almost positive that Logan didn't want that anyway. He was nice and he helped her get home, but she knew that he was more interested in other girls and what they could give him.

By this time she was almost ready to go. Picking up her school bag and turning one last time to check on Steph, who was still asleep, she left the dorm room.

* * *

><p>The breakfast hall was packed when she arrived. The long tables that scattered the room were nearly all full and there was a line to the food. People must get up earlier than she thought around here. Picking up a tray she joined the line for the different breakfast foods along the isle.<p>

She was just reaching for her cup of coffee, which had just filled up using the instant maker at the side of the hall, when someone bumped in to her from the side.

"Whoa." Rory said, grabbing the cup to stop it from knocking over.

"I'm so sorry I didn't mean to. There was just a knife on the floor, and I was distracted, and then you were here and then well, yeah."

Rory turned to see a guy standing in front of her. He had brown hair and was quite tall, with dark eyes that held kindness in them, even though at this moment he was looking around uncomfortably.

She smiled. He had babbled in a way that had done her proud, and it was nice to know someone else did it when they were embarrassed.

"Its fine" she said "I'm not the most graceful person around either, I tripped within the first ten minutes of arriving here."

He smiled himself, clearly glad that she wasn't biting his head of or yelling at him for nearly knocking her over.

"Well I'm sorry anyway," he said "I'm Marty Hill by the way."

"Rory Gilmore."

"Pleased to meet you, would you like to join me?" he gestured towards a table by one of the windows that had two spare seats on the end with a gap between another group of people.

"Sure." she replied. He seemed friendly and she didn't have anybody else to sit with at the moment.

He led her over to the table and they both sat down.

"So, you're new here?" Marty asked once they were settled.

"Yeah, it's my second day today."

"How are you finding it so far? People being friendly?"

"So far," she smiled "I like it here and most of the teachers seem nice too."

He nodded. "Where are you from?"

"Hartford in Connecticut, but I live in a little town near by called Stars Hollow."

"I know Hartford, I spent a couple of school trips at a couple of museums there when I was younger, but I don't know Stars Hollow."

"You won't," she laughed "It's a really small town where everyone knows each other and has at least six people who have a completely insane nature. People would make a fortune selling giant butterfly nets."

Marty laughed.

"Sounds interesting"

"Yeah it is. Where are you from?"

"Washington." he replied "No crazy people in my town though, well, not that many."

They both laughed. They had quickly become comfortable with each other and Rory liked him already.

"That's some breakfast," he said, looking at Rory's tray packed full of food with raised eyebrows "and two cups of coffee…?"

"Coffee is the elixir of life, it is unhealthy to go without it and you need it to prepare you for the day. _You_ need coffee." She said it all with complete serious and Marty blinked then burst out laughing.

"Hey, I don't see what's funny." she said indignantly but grinned herself.

"You're an addict." he stated.

Rory shrugged "You should see my Mom; she drinks twice as much as me"

"Wow" he said and she smiled again.

"So have you met anyone worthy of being a friend yet?" he asked looking at her intently.

"Yeah a few people," she replied "Almost everyone has been really friendly around here, though there was a few girls that cornered me in the bathroom but I didn't let them bother me."

"You're the girl that stood up to Beth, Mandy and Becca?" he asked looking shocked.

"Yeah I think. How do you know?"

"Nobody ever stands up to them; no one can be bothered to deal with them all. You did and you didn't take any of their crap. People are impressed, they're real Bitches."

"Okay." Rory said slowly, unsure of what to make of that.

"So…umm…" she looked up at Marty to see him looking kind of unsure again.

"What's up?" she asked, confused with what he wanted.

"Well I was wondering, because you're new and I don't know if you know anyone yet, if you wanted, at lunch, to…"

"Ace!" someone suddenly called from across the room, effectively stopping what Marty was going to say.

They both turned to see the person who had been in Rory's thoughts practically 24/7 since the night before heading towards them.

"Logan." she greeted, trying to keep her voice cool.

"Hey, did you get back ok last night?" he asked smiling at her easily, though she could see something in his eyes when he looked at her, the same thing that had been in his eyes when she called at his dorm the day before.

"Yeah, thanks for letting me borrow the car…and Frank." she added smiling.

"No problem. I've been looking for you. I called by your dorm, not expecting you to be up yet, but I just got a high heeled shoe thrown at me so I figured it was just Steph."

Rory laughed "I couldn't go back to sleep when I woke up, so I came down here to eat, thinking coffee would help"

"Headache?" he asked looking amused.

"Yeah" she grumbled, shooting him a glare because of the look on his face.

He grinned and was just about to say something when someone else spoke.

"Umm, Rory, I think I should be going. I will see you around I guess."

They both turned and Rory blinked in surprise, suddenly feeling guilty. She had been so caught up in her conversation with Logan that she had completely forgotten that Marty was there.

He was shifting uncomfortably in his seat and his eyes were flickering all over.

"You don't have to go." she said quickly, getting up out of her own seat as he started to rise.

"It's fine, you look busy." his eyes shifted to Logan, who was giving Marty a strangely hard look.

"What? Oh no its fine you can stay, we don't mind." she looked at Logan warningly herself and after a second a tense smile appeared on Logan's face and he spoke.

"Yeah its fine, stay if you want, umm..?"

"Marty" Marty supplied, looking at Logan himself this time.

"Right, Marty stay if you want."

"No its fine, I'll leave you two alone. I will see you later Rory…Logan" with that he turned and hurried out of the dining hall.

Rory frowned, slightly hurt that he hadn't even given her the chance to say goodbye. What was with him? It had been fine one minute and they seemed to be getting off to a pretty good start.

She turned back to Logan and froze. All of her thoughts from this morning and memories from last night came back to her and she shifted nervously. A silence appeared between them and they stood still for a minute.

"Rory…" Logan started and she looked up in to his chocolate brown eyes and was lost again.

Blinking after staying like that for a minute she shook her head and spoke.

"We need to talk." she said, knowing that it would be awkward until they did.

"Yeah" he said nodding "The bells about to go and we have Homeroom together so lets talk on the way?" he suggested as people began to get up and leave the dining hall.

Nodding she followed him out of the room, noticing a few people turning to look at them as they went by.

"About last night…" he started

"Look Logan, you don't have to say anything. It was just a kiss, I know that. It doesn't have to mean anything."

He looked kind of relieved at that but there was something else on his face too, something that she couldn't quite read.

"You don't want it to mean anything?" he asked

"Well, no" she replied confused "I mean, you don't either right? Your you, you have these girls and they have you. I do relationships not hook ups with random guys. It would probably be better if we just forgot that anything ever happened."

"You're ok with that?" he asked

"Yeah I am. I mean I like you and I want to stay friends, but I don't want anything else" she ignored the feeling that those words made her feel and forced herself to look at him.

He smiled. "Good, I like you as a friend too."

She nodded smiling herself.

"So we're okay? He asked, looking her in the eye.

"Yeah, we're okay" she replied, glad that she hadn't lost him as a friend already.

They had reached the classroom and Rory headed over to the desk by the window where she had sat the day before. This time Logan came and sat down beside her. Ignoring the way it felt when his hand brushed hers slightly, she concentrated on Mrs. Jackson taking the roll.

* * *

><p>Steph practically pounced on her the second that she walked in to Spanish.<p>

"Is it true?" she asked grabbing Rory's arm "Is it? Why didn't you tell me? Rory!"

"Good morning to you too." Rory said as she slid in to the seat beside her bouncing roommate.

"Rory!"

"What?" Rory asked confused "I don't know what you're talking about"

"Logan! What did you think I was talking about?"

"What about Logan?" Rory asked, looking around nervously.

"Don't play like that! Colin told me, that Finn told him, that last night he spoke to Seth, who told him that his friend Derek saw you making out with Logan."

Rory blinked at the complicated sentence, trying to sort it all out in her mind. She got the gist of it and she slid a bit further down in her seat.

"Well? Is it true?" Steph asked, her voice getting louder now and attracting quite a lot of attention.

"It's true" Rory mumbled looking away. Steph heard though.

"Rory!" she practically yelled "What were you thinking? Logan is my friend and everything and I love him but he isn't interested in a relationship, and you are like the kind of girl that is."

"I know Steph, I know." Rory replied.

"Do you like him?" she asked, her face suddenly serious and her voice much quieter "I mean, we all saw the chemistry between you and everything and you seemed to be getting along."

"I like Logan as a friend" Rory replied quickly "Last night was a mistake, a one time thing. We've talked about it and it won't happen again. We're just friends."

"Just friends?" Steph asked.

"Just friends."

"You're sure? This is what you want right? I mean there was definitely a connection between the two of you…"

"I'm sure and yeah it is what I want. We're better off as friends" Rory replied, ignoring the feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Ok. Well that's alright then"

There was an unusual silence between them for a minute and then Steph turned back to her, a very different look on her face.

"I have to tell you about Justin" she said, grinning at her and Rory rolled her eyes.

Pushing back the feeling of what she said to and about Logan was wrong she turned back to Steph. She had done the right thing…Right?

**A/N: Ok, so thats that. I hope you have enjoyed it and please review to tell me what you think. I will be sending the usual excerpt to anyone who does so.**

**Thank you for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Over 100 reviews! Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed so far, I never thought the story would get this type of response and I really appreciate it all. I am glad that people are enjoying the story so far and I am going to try to update as soon as possible for all of the chapters as a way of thanks.**

**To anyone who mentioned it in a review, the feelings of denial that Rory and Logan are going through won't last that long and there should be a lot more scenes between them in the next few chapters.**

**This chapter will skip forward to 8 months in the future as I felt that it suited the story to go ahead a bit. I hope you like it.**

_Recap:_

"_I'm sure and yeah it is what I want. We're better off as friends" Rory replied, ignoring the feeling in the pit of her stomach._

"_Ok. Well that's alright then" _

_There was an unusual silence between them for a minute and then Steph turned back to her, a very different look on her face._

"_I have to tell you about Justin" she said, grinning at her and Rory rolled her eyes._

_Pushing back the feeling of what she said to and about Logan was wrong she turned back to Steph. She had done the right thing…Right?_

8 Months later

"Gilmore! Hurry up we're going to be late."

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Hold on a second." Rory yelled back as she ran around the room looking for her matching shoe.

"You've said that three times now!" Colin said exasperatedly from his position in the doorway "Put on another pair of shoes and let's go."

"Theses are the only ones that go with the uniform. I need to find them, chill out."

"This is the last assembly of the year. Once we go to this we can leave for the summer and this will be the last time for two months that you have to run around in a panic looking for a particular shoe. Now come…"

"Found it!" she exclaimed as she pulled her black Jimmy Choo out from beside her desk and shoved it on her foot.

"Finally" Colin said with a sigh "Now let's go"

Rory rolled her eyes but hurried behind him out the door. The past eight months at Andover had been some of the best times of her life. She had come out of her shell far more and became the girl that she had always wanted to be but didn't have the guts.

She had still remained the hard working student that she had always been, but her overall attitude had changed. For the first time in her life she had been getting in to trouble. Not anywhere near as much as Colin, Finn and Logan, but had received a few detentions. She regularly attended the many parties that were held and had taken part in a few pranks around the school. Being perfect was not an issue anymore as she was not the model student. Following the rules was still important to her, but there was still a lot of room to bend them.

In her second week at Andover she had ended up getting caught up in a prank that the guys were pulling. Without going in to details it involved superglue and some bolts. They had all got in to some minor trouble for it but Rory realised that it was fun too, as long as it wasn't taken too far.

At the party's she would drink and have fun, interacting with whoever was there. She never turned in to one of the sluttish girls like Beth or Claire, but she had a bit of fun with a few guys, but none of that ever went any further that a few kisses. Apart from with one guy.

She met David in Biology when the classes changed around the second semester. He was cute and smart and had a side to him that always made her laugh. When Rory dropped her books on the way to her desk he had picked them up for her and had been friendly. As a coincidence, the seating chart labelled them to sit next to each other and the as the semester progressed, the two got to know each other more.

Just before everyone went home for winter break there was a Christmas party held in the gym. The whole school attended and it was a big event. Everyone had been really dressed up and it was very festively decorated. Rory had been sat in the corner of the hall that she Steph, Logan and the others had commandeered to be theirs for the rest of the night.

Colin and Steph were slow dancing on the floor set up in the middle of the room, evidently having a moment to give in to what ever urges the other had which would be later put down to the fact that they were supposedly high on holiday spirit. Logan was sat on a bench at the back of the hall chatting to a blonde and a brunette, and Finn was off somewhere with a redhead named Rosemary; who he had been trying to get to go out with him for most of the semester.

So there she was, sat alone at the table. A couple of guys she knew had asked her to dance but she had declined them all in favour of reading in the corner. Her eyes were on Logan. As much as she tried to resist it, she was drawn to him. Something stirred inside of her whenever they touched or were close. Whenever he was flirting with other girls her stomach curled and she hated the fact that no matter how hard she tried to deny it, her breath caught whenever she looked at him. Her mind was constantly drifting to him during the day. His chocolate brown eyes, his casually messy blonde hair, and his amused smirk that was almost constantly gracing his features.

Not being able to handle it as his thumb brushed the blonde's, whose name Rory thought was Lauren, arm and the girl laughed breathily, murmuring something like 'oh Logan', Rory hurried out of the hall and in to the schools gardens. Everywhere was lit up with sparkling fairy lights and giant baubles and decorations hung on the trees and bushes all around. There was no snow, as it hardly ever happened in England, but the whole place had looked like a winter wonderland.

She had been sitting on a bench between two pine trees while looking out on to the games fields when David came to sit beside her. They had talked for a few minutes but there was something else in the air that night between them. He had admitted to her that he had liked her and Rory had been surprised but happy. She liked him to, maybe not as much as she did a certain blonde boy, but liked him all the same.

When he had asked her out she had agreed; feeling flattered that he was interested in her. All of the other guys she had met, although they made it clear that they were attracted to her, did not want a relationship. They were the type of guys that you had fun with, maybe dated a few times, but it was never going to be anything serious, especially if you didn't want to sleep with them.

So she had agreed, and it had been great. Really great. They had gone back inside the hall and had danced. They had gone out on a date before they left for winter break, and she had enjoyed it all. He was sweet to her, and they got on well, sharing some of the same interests. They had kept in touch over the holiday season and when school started again had become an official couple. She had been happy.

Her friends weren't the most enthusiastic people about the relationship however. Steph wasn't too bad about it, she was glad that Rory was dating and seemed happy, but in her opinion you shouldn't restrict yourself to one guy at their age. Colin and Finn were a different story. They had been strangely protective of Rory and had always been cautious of Davis, sending him warning glances whenever he so much as kissed her. Finn had looked like he wanted to jump across the table in the cafeteria when the making out had got slightly heated. Most of the time it wasn't done in public; Rory not liking the whole school gossiping and watching their relationship.

Then there was Logan. His reaction had been odd to say the least. At first he seemed constantly grumpy around everyone, shooting Rory and David glares every time they were around together. She then got angry about it and they had big argument; him slating her relationship and her slating all of his girls. That had ended in them not speaking for two weeks, and that had gotten them both increasingly moodier towards everyone around them. After that stage they both seemed to decide that it was stupid and they became friends again, although it was still weird and not like before.

It was towards the end of March when her relationship came to an end. It had been exam time and everyone had been in a complete panic about getting the right grades, well some people anyway. Rory had been immersed in books all week; hardly doing anything with anyone. These counted as a percentage of her final grade for the end of high school and she was determined to do well.

She hadn't been out with either David or her friends since she began the cramming sessions, and it was starting to get to him. He had come to her dorm while she was revising and had just about demanded for her to go out with him. Rory had declined, saying that she had to study and that she would go out again when no it was all over. He hadn't taken that very well and had stormed out after having an argument. That was the point when Rory had hit rock bottom. All of the stress from the past couple of days hit her hard all at once and the argument with her boyfriend had crushed her.

Steph had been coming out of the bathroom at this point and saw Rory in the state that she was in and handled it in the way that she knew how. She convinced Rory to get out of the room, knowing that it was driving Rory crazy staring at the four walls.

Rory had agreed, needing to some how let off stream and take her mind of the argument with David. It had been a good night, another party with a lot of the surrounding people in the area. The problem was that one of the girls in the hallway, who was bitter about Rory and Steph's relationships with the guys, had spotted her. She had sent a picture of Rory dancing with Steph, a cup a punch in hand, to David, letting him know that his girlfriend was at a party rather than spending the night with him. The girl was only at the party because she had managed to snag a date with one of the guys that were attending, but she managed to cause the damage that she had hoped for all the same, even if it was her first (and effectively last) party.

David had reacted furiously the next day. He had stormed in to Rory's dorm, waking up both her and Steph, and waved the picture of them dancing in Rory's face. Then the bigger argument had begun. They fought about everything from classes to each others friends. Rory had reacted when he had yelled about Steph being a slut and she had screamed back that he was a rubbish kisser and a load of other stuff. That was when he had crossed the line even more and called her a slut that no one took seriously, and about her being easy and annoying.

That was when Colin had Finn had suddenly appeared. David had been practically dragged out of her dorm and most likely out of the building. They may have gone further if Rory hadn't yelled for them to come back. It all made it far worse when she caught him sat in the back of the library with the girl that sent him in the picture in the first place.

It had hurt her, but not nearly as much as would be expected in this situation. She realised that she had never loved him; it was more friendship and the excitement of the new relationship; the fact that it was someone to be with. She may have never loved Dean either, but at least she had been sad when they broke up.

It was all over now though. She and David had parted ways and had barely spoken since. Colin and Finn had wanted to go after him but Rory had stopped them. However he mysteriously ended up with a black eye an seemed to have even more of a grudge against Logan, so Rory suspected but never pressed the matter as David was still a touchy subject between them, even though things got back to normal after the break up.

"Rory? Hello?" Colin's voice sounded by her ear and she blinked, breaking out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, sorry, what?" she asked, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

"I said we're going in," he replied "You looked completely out of it and I thought I'd better warn you before you sat on the wrong seat or on someone's lap by accident." He grinned and she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, well thanks." she said sarcastically and pushed open the door to the hall.

Most people were already seated when they walked in and Colin was grumbling under his breath; he hated being late. Rory could see Logan, Steph and Finn sat at one end of the room, two spare seats saved for them. They were only late because they had been doing a project for Trig and had ended up over running in the library. Then Rory had had the problem with losing her other shoe and they had ended up practically running to get to the assembly on time.

People moved out of there way quite quickly as they hurried along the isle to join the others. It still shocked Rory a little bit when people seemed to do exactly what they wanted. Whether she wanted to admit it or not they were just about the most popular people in the school.

"Where've you been?" Steph asked "You're like, ten minutes late. That's against your religion isn't it Colin?" she grinned at him and he glared back.

"Shut up Steph," he snapped and the blondes grin widened at the reaction "For the record anyway, it wasn't me that made us late." he shot a pointed look at Rory and sat down grumpily.

Steph smirked at her. "What happened?"

"I lost my shoe" Rory smiled, sitting down herself "It was down the side of the desk. Do you know anything about that?" she raised her eyebrows "You do have a tendency to throw shoes at people when they enter the room."

"I have no idea what your talking about" Steph replied, but the amused expression on her face said otherwise and Logan snorted.

"Right." he said, rolling his eyes "So the shoe that nearly hit me this morning was thrown by whom? The mysterious high heel fairy?"

Steph smirked again and focused her eyes on the front.

"You all packed?" Logan asked, leaning forward to talk to Rory.

"Mostly" she replied "I just need to finish packing shoes and some more books and I'm ready. What time are we going again?"

"About an hour and a half after this finishes. Frank will drive us to the harbour and we can go from there."

Rory nodded and smiled. They were all going yachting for about 5 weeks of the summer holidays. It hadn't been planned at first. Logan was supposed to go to a newspaper thing over the summer with his dad and she was supposed to be going home to Stars Hollow to spend some time with her mom.

That had changed however when Logan had another fight with his dad and Grandfather, causing him to refuse to go to the newspaper conference. That was when the extra plans were made to go yachting around with the others, instead of the week at the end that had been planned for them to meet up in California.

Then Chris had managed to get some time off of work for the first 4 weeks of the summer and as it had been his only time off, had wanted to take Lorelai on a romantic trip to Paris. Both of her parents had been really apologetic and had decided not to go in the end. Rory had stopped them, not wanting to be the cause of her parents having to cancel their trip. So in the end they had agreed to both go away and then meet up the last week before Rory had to return to school. She knew it would kill her not to see her mom for even longer than was originally planned, but they both had their own lives and according to Lorelai, going on trips was what being young was all about and Roryy should make the most of it.

So the plans were made to tour around Europe for the summer and then fly back to the States at the end of the fourth week. Many debates began over where they would all go, a lot of which revolved around whether shopping or parties were more important, or in Finn's case, how many red heads the area had.

"How long is this supposed to last?" she asked Logan, looking around at the rest of the Andover students that she had come to know over the past few months.

"Who knows," Logan murmured "They're different every time depending on who is the main talker. Hopefully this won't be as long as the one before winter break." He shuddered and Rory frowned, remembering the two hour long assembly complete with dancing and terrible singathons.

"God I hope not." she said and looked over after hearing a noise to see Steph and Colin in the middle of an argument over the fact that Steph said that the new PE support teacher was cute.

Rory rolled her eyes and looked at Finn who was silent. She frowned as she realised that he hadn't said a word since they arrived in the room. He was just sat staring ahead at something, a strange expression on his face. This was Finn; he was never silent for this long, ever.

Leaning closer to Logan she put her lips next to his ear so that the others wouldn't hear what she said.

"What's with Finn?" she murmured, gesturing silently to the mute Finn.

Logan glanced at him then leant back towards Rory.

"Look at the front of the hall, left corner" there was amusement in his voice and Rory looked to where he said.

She smiled slightly herself when she saw what he was talking about. Rosemary was sat next to Jack Hardy. His arm was around her shoulder and her he was whispering something in her ear and she was laughing lightly at whatever he was saying.

"Oh" she murmured, smile still in place.

"He's been like it since they came in," Logan said smirking "I think he's heartbroken" he snickered and Rory grinned.

"Hey, she might have been the love of his life" she said amusedly and Logan rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure"

"I hate that guy." Finn spoke suddenly, surprising them both. "_We_ were meant to be together. Forever!" he said whiningly "I don't think my heart will ever mend."

"I'm sure you'll get over it," Logan said amusedly "You always do."

"Not this time" Finn said dramatically and pulled a pair of sunglasses out of the top pocket of his blazer, putting them on while holding his head high.

Rory snickered and Logan shook his head.

"Give him two hours" Logan said and they both laughed, though she shuddered at the feeling of his breath on her neck.

Jack had stopped hanging around Rory when she had become good friends with Steph, Colin, Finn and Logan. The three guys knew of his reputation and didn't like him, and their dislike grew when they found out about his attention on Rory. No words were involved about the whole thing but Jack stayed away from Rory. Not only did she have a lot of people that liked her in the school, there were the people she went to parties with too. He may have not been the smartest person in the school, but he wasn't that stupid.

The Headmaster walked on stage then and the room went quiet.

"Here we go." Logan murmured and Rory nodded, sinking back in to her seat with a sigh.

* * *

><p>About two hours later Rory was stood in the middle of her dorm room looking around at the nearly empty space. She had just about finished packing for the summer and was just checking that she had got everything. Steph was sat by her wardrobe trying to fit too many pairs of shoes in suitcase, grumbling about it under her breath.<p>

"Have you got everything?" Rory asked her amusedly as she watched.

"Yes…Maybe…Umm," Steph looked around with a frown "I think I'm missing one of my boots."

"It's the middle of the summer, at what point are you going to need boots?" Rory asked incredulously.

Steph opened her mouth to respond when Rory's phone began to ring.

"That will be my Mom." She said, reaching over the bed to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Mini Me!" Lorelai greeted cheerily "All packed and ready to go?"

"Yeah I think so." Rory replied, smiling at the sound of her moms voice "Are you?"

"Possibly" Lorelai replied "Though your Dad seems to think that we don't need to take scarves with us. I mean of course we need scarves! It's not America, it will be colder. What if it gets windy and we freeze?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "You don't need scarves" she said "What is it with everyone wanting to take winter clothes away? It's Paris not Alaska; you don't need them, Dad's right."

"Hey!" Lorelai replied indignantly "I raised you! I fed you and watered you all by myself for at least ten years! You should take my side!"

"I take the side that's logical," Rory said calmly "It's not my fault if it's hardly ever yours."

"Well that's the thanks I get." Lorelai grumbled and Rory laughed.

"No scarves Mom."

"But…"

"No scarves." Rory repeated.

"Oh, fine. No scarves." Lorelai said with a sigh "Now, is everything ok? Are you ready to go and is everything sorted with Logan and the others?"

"Yeah everything fine" Rory replied "Logan rang the marina and everything's all set."

"Good" Lorelai said "Have a good time honey, but don't get married or pregnant!"

"What?" Rory asked confused.

"Don't get married or pregnant. You hear all sorts of story's about teenagers going off on their own and something like that happening. I don't want that to happen to you."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Ok, I won't get married or pregnant. Any more helpful advice?"

"I always have helpful advice." Lorelai said brightly "But for now you're good. Have fun!"

"I will" Rory said laughing "You too, have fun with Dad."

"See you in 5 weeks" Lorelai said, slightly sadly "I will miss you lots."

"Me too, see you then Mom"

"Bye babe."

"Bye." Rory said and they hung up.

"She ok?" Steph asked from her position on the floor, looking up to meet Rory's eyes.

"Yeah" she replied smiling "The usual packing drama and all, but she's good."

Steph nodded and stood up. "Well I think I'm all done." She said looking around one last time.

"Finally." Rory said smiling "Now let's go before they leave without us."

"They better not." They stared to leave the room when Rory ran in to someone as she was moving.

"Oh, sorry," she said quickly, glancing up to see who it was "Marty, I thought you'd left" she said surprised.

"My flight got cancelled" he replied, smiling weakly at her "I'm staying here another night."

"That's not good" Rory said sympathetically "You'll have to stay here another day on your own."

He nodded but frowned slightly. "Weren't you supposed to be catching a flight back to Hartford tomorrow as well?"

Rory shook her head.

"Not anymore. Didn't I tell you? My Mom and Dad are going to Paris for the summer as it's the only time they can get off, so I'm going yachting around Europe with Logan, Colin, Finn and Steph."

"Oh," Marty said, looking down "No you didn't tell me, I guess you forgot. Never mind, I guess I will go out or something. Have fun." He smiled half-heartedly at her.

"Yeah, I will thanks." Rory replied; confused at what was wrong with him. Staying behind wouldn't be that bad and he new she would have trying to get on an earlier flight before if she could. Why was he acting weird about her going with the others?

She stared after his retreating figure with a frown. That was when she spotted Beth across the hall and sighed. That relationship hadn't got any better.

"So you're going now?" Beth asked; a hint of annoyance in her voice. Even after all of this time she was still jealous about Rory's relationship with the guys, and the fact that she was invited to party's when Beth herself wasn't.

"Yeah, we are." Rory replied, keeping her voice cool.

"Well, have fun!" Beth said sarcastically "You never know you might like it there so much you might not want to come back."

Rory smirked at the other girl. "But then we wouldn't see each other again!" she said innocently and widening her eyes for effect "What would we do then?"

The other girl glared at her. "Who knows." She snapped "Anyway, the guys will get bored of you once they see you everyday for an entire summer. Then what will you do when you come back here?"

"You keep dreaming about that" Rory said in amusement "Get over yourself Beth. Even if that did happen. They wouldn't come to you when they got back here. They never did before anyway and if you think Logan will after that one time you two had, you're mistaken. Have a good summer." She smiled sweetly and walked down the hall away from the blonde and towards where she could hear Steph arguing with the others about how much stuff she was taking.

* * *

><p>"Put it down!" Colin yelled at Finn, who was waving one of the ropes of the yacht about that he probably shouldn't be touching.<p>

"I'm helping!" Finn yelled back, then promptly tripped over and pulled the rope too hard, making a beam swing forward at an alarming rate.

Colin cursed and grabbed it, quickly taking control again.

"Yes, you're helping loads." He said sarcastically "Go sit down and we'll handle it."

"You never let me do anything!" Finn whined and stomped over to sit by Rory and Steph.

"Cheer up" Steph said grinning "He might let you mop up later on if you're good."

Finn whined to himself again and put his sunglasses on and lay back, murmuring something about the sun being to bright.

Steph rolled her eyes.

"Every year." She stated "Every year we go through this."

Rory laughed and downed the rest of the champagne she had been drinking. Getting up she turned to Steph.

"You want another one?" she asked.

"Not another one of these," she said gesturing to her empty champagne glass "but a vodka and orange might be nice, please."

"Ok." Rory said and headed across the deck and past Colin, who was currently trying to tie a rope single handed, and down below where there was a small bar in the cool.

There was another bottle of champagne that had been open and she began to pour it in to her flute while looking for the orange juice with her other hand. There was some noise from around the corner which she knew was Logan. He had disappeared five minutes earlier to go and look for something to do with the rig or bow or whatever, leaving Colin in charge of the actual sailing.

Rory sighed, finally finding the orange and pouring it in to a glass. Spending four and a half weeks with Logan. Whether she liked it or not, there were still undeniable feelings inside of her for the cocky blonde that Rory had come to know and love. She wasn't entirely sure she was going to be able to cope, watching him flirt with girl after girl everyday. Then again he wasn't hers; she had no right to be jealous.

So busy lost in thought she poured too much vodka in to a glass and it overflowed. Jumping back to attention, she grabbed a cloth and quickly wiped it up, hoping that Steph wouldn't mind it too strong. Then again this was Steph; it was never to strong.

Rory was just carrying the drinks and starting to climb up the steps on to the upper deck when she bumped in to someone from beside her. Letting out a little yell, she dropped both drinks and started to fall to the floor. A pair of arms caught her before she fell, but not before her foot caught the hinge that stopped the trap from falling.

The door fell down and they were descended in to darkness. Rory froze in the persons arms, knowing full know who it was. She was stuck in a dark cabin with Logan.

**A/N: So what do you think is going to happen between Rory and Logan? The next chapter will very busy and a lot will go on in the short time of it. I will try and post that as soon as possible.**

**Please review, I really appreciate the feedback I get from everyone so please write and tell me what you think. I will be sending an excerpt as normal to anyone who does.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So this is chapter 9. I am so sorry about the time of the update. I know I said that I would be updating a lot quicker, maybe twice a week, and I know that it has been just over a week since the last one. I did mean to post the next chapter, but I really have been busy this last week. I know people put that a lot, but I really have. However, everything has calmed down again now, so the updates should definitely be coming a lot quicker.**

**Thank you again to everyone who reviewed. I received the best response so far for the last chapter and I am so happy with the stats and the number of people reviewing. Thank you everyone.**

**Anyway, this is the next chapter. I know that it is quite short, but a lot of things happen in it and the whole plot will move along a lot in this one and the next. I hope you like it!**

_Recap:_

_Rory was just carrying the drinks and starting to climb up the steps on to the upper deck when she bumped in to someone from beside her. Letting out a little yell, she dropped both drinks and started to fall to the floor. A pair of arms caught her before she fell, but not before her foot caught the hinge that stopped the trap from falling._

_The door fell down and they were descended in to darkness. Rory froze in the persons arms, knowing full know who it was. She was stuck in a dark cabin with Logan._

Time seemed to stop as they both stood frozen in that position. Rory couldn't believe the sparks that ran through her when their bodies touched; still the same as they were all those months ago.

It wasn't as if she hadn't been close to or touched Logan since the first time, because she had, it was the fact that they never seemed to be this near to each other. They would talk, and had become good friends, but whenever they were sat watching something there was always someone else near. It was never this…intimate.

Rory blinked and seemed to shake herself, Logan obviously doing the same thing as he set her straight and released her from his arms.

"Umm…" she murmured, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the dark room.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Logan said quietly, his voice controlled.

"Neither was I, its fine." Rory replied and the tension in the air was raised and they fell in to an uncomfortable silence.

Logan cleared his throat and shifted slightly, Rory sensing his every movement in the darkness.

"We should probably shout for the others," he started "the hatch has locked so only someone from above can let us out."

Rory nodded, then realised he couldn't see her properly said "Yeah, you're right."

Stupid yacht, Rory thought to herself. The whole boat probably cost a fortune and it had design faults like that. It shouldn't happen; there should have been an emergency switch or something.

"Colin! Steph!" she called out, turning to face the hatch.

"Finn!" Logan yelled behind her, appealing to the drunken Australian, who weirdly seemed to have the best hearing out of everyone.

There was no answer, just the sound of waves lapping against the side of the boat.

"Hello!" Rory called again, kind of desperately this time. She just wanted to get out.

They were met with silence yet again and Logan sighed.

"Maybe they'll remember that we've gone along time and come and find us." Rory said meekly, though she knew the chances of that happening were miniscule.

"I doubt it," Logan replied "Finn has probably passed out by now and Steph and Colin are probably fighting about God know what."

Rory sighed herself. "I guess we're stuck."

"Yep."

They were silent for a minute when Rory frowned.

"Aren't there any lights down here?" she asked, thinking that if it was a proper modern yacht they should have lights. There definitely had been spotlights in her room.

"Not in this section," Logan replied "This area is just meant for getting up on to the deck. There's a light in the drinks area, but we'd probably trip over several things and get injured on the way, well…" he paused and she could practically imagine the smirk on his face at this point "you would anyway. It's not worth it." His voice change to amusement at the end and Rory glared at him in the darkness.

"Right," Rory said quietly, wishing that the tension in the atmosphere would ease up a little bit.

"Marty thought me how to pick a lock," she said, suddenly remembering that afternoon when he had surprised her by opening the bathroom cabinet that Steph had lost the key for. "Maybe we could try that, though it would probably be hard in the dark."

"Right of course," Logan said, his voice hard and patronising "Good old Marty saves the day with a solution."

"Hey! What's that tone for?" she asked, annoyed.

"Nothing," Logan snapped back "Just wondering how he would know how to pick a lock on a boat like this. I doubt he would have had much practice."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rory asked furiously "Just because he doesn't have as much money as you doesn't mean that he can't do anything!"

"Yeah, that's it Rory, defend the guys who don't have as much money. The rich guys always the bad guy. I remember having this conversation about your last darling boyfriend."

"I don't have anything against people with money," Rory snapped back "I only call you on what you say when it is wrong. I don't see why you had to drag David in to this anyway, that's history and you know it."

"I just can't believe that we're having the same conversation about the good old lock picker. Now that's history repeating itself. You should dump him now; I guess we already know the consequences."

"Marty's not my boyfriend and you know it. We're just friends, and don't refer to him like that."

Logan scoffed. "Well that's something knew, every guy you meet you seem to dance with at parties. He must be the only one who hasn't had the great pleasure; I'll bet he's disappointed."

Rory was outraged at that. "Don't you dare call me on those guys!" she yelled "There haven't been that many and it was never any more that, a dance! I can't say the same for you and you're bimbos!"

"Yeah, well at least there's a point to all of that! We both get something at the end. Then there's Rory Gilmore of course, who specialises in leading guys on."

"Well I apologise for not doing anything unless it means something!" she practically screamed "You'll get it on with anything that has boobs."

"What do you care?" he snapped "You jealous?"

"Get over yourself, why would I be jealous of one of them? They spend all of their time fawning over you. I have better things to do than follow around the great Logan Huntzburger."

"So you follow around guys like Marty and David? Yeah I see, they're so much better." Logan rolled his eyes and glared at her.

"I'm not having this conversation with you anymore!" Rory snapped "You're completely wrong. Ugh, you're so annoying."

"Yeah that's right, run away when a conversation doesn't go the way you like. You tend to do that a lot."

"Only in conversations with you; you're the one who's acting stupid." She wanted to hit him, she was completely furious. This was one of the biggest fights they had ever had, second only to the one when she had been dating David.

"Right, got it; I'm the stupid one."

"Yes! You know what I can't believe you! One minute your all nice and a good friend, you have a sense of humour, the next your snarky and annoying! God you're…" She broke off, completely furious and unable to form words. Everything flashed in front of her eyes; all of the girls, his infuriating smirk, what he was like when she was dating David. That was it. In the anger of the moment she acted on impulse and did something she would never normally do.

She flung herself at him in annoyance, her hand going up to hit him anywhere she could. He caught her quickly, but they both slammed in to the wall of the yacht. This put their faces inches from each other.

They both glared at each other for a second, and then their lips crashed together, taking out all of their fury on the other one.

His lips were moving over hers, hard and fast, with bruising force. She returned it with the same velocity, her hands winding in his hair while Logan's slid around her waist, holding her hips. He quickly spun them around so her back was pressed against the wall, moving his head down to her neck. Rory moaned when he sucked on her pulse point, her fingers tightening in his hair.

One of his hands slid under her shirt and she gasped at the feeling of his warm skin on her back. She pulled his head back up to hers and their lips connected again. His tongue traced her lips, waiting for her to open them. When she did, his tongue slid in to her mouth, a groan coming from the back of his throat.

There was a sudden clunk from above, with a yell from someone, probably Finn, and Rory jerked her had away in shock. She blinked and realised what had just happened. Logan's chocolate eyes held a look of lust, his breathing heavy and laboured as he looked in to her eyes. Her own breathing was heavy and she leaned against the wall, realising then that he still had his hand on her hip and back, while hers were in his hair, their bodies pressed against each other.

"Rory…" Logan started; his voice husky and his face shocked.

Staring at him like that she got her resolve. She had to get out. Now.

"I have to go." Rory said and slid out of his arms, practically running for the trap door. As if right on cue, it opened to reveal a stressed looking Colin.

"Logan…" he started to call, but stopped when he saw the scene in front of him.

Rory rushed for the door and he quickly moved out of her way, his face shocked.

She blinked when the bright light hit her, having been used to being in the dark of the cabin for the last however long. Finn was sat on the deck, legs crossed while pouting sulkily with his arms folded. Steph was now leaning against one of the railings, holding gingerly on to a thick rope. They both looked up when she approached and Steph raised her eyebrows.

"What happened?" she asked, looking shocked and slightly bemused.

"What?" Rory said glancing around wildly "Nothing happened, why you would think something did?"

"You've been gone ages and you originally went to get two drinks, which you don't seem to have," Finn said, talking logic for once "Plus look at yourself Love."

Rory frowned and glanced in the glass that adorned part of the yacht. She stared at herself in shock and inwardly groaned. Her brown hair was mussed and in complete disarray, her lips swollen and slightly bruised looking. The blue and white striped tank top she was wearing was rumpled up around her waist, and her denim shorts were slightly wonky.

"You have sex hair." Steph stated calmly, her eyes trailing over Rory with thoughtful scrutiny.

"I do not!" Rory quickly defended, patting and smoothing her hair down the best she could.

Finn waggled his eyebrows and grinned. Rory glared at him, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"I don't think I've ever seen you run so fast." Colin said, appearing again and taking the rope from Steph, who eagerly handed it over with a look of relief on her face.

"I…" Rory started but stopped as Logan appeared on the deck. They looked at each other for a minute and then Rory quickly looked away.

"I'm going to get a book." She said quickly and hurried from the deck, while Logan walked over to the other side and began to tie some knots.

"This is going to be interesting." Steph said slowly, her eyes following Rory's retreating figure.

"I'll say" Finn said and Colin nodded.

It was going to be very interesting.

* * *

><p>A week and a half later and things hadn't improved. Rory and Logan avoided each other at all costs, barely speaking at all. They were currently in Italy. They had spent some time in France, and then moved on to Spain. They had arrived two days before and were staying in a popular tourist area, with a lot of people their age, all there for partying.<p>

Rory was currently standing on the balcony of one of the houses that a party was situated in, the warm breeze blowing her hair lightly across her shoulder. She was wearing a short flowery dress, mainly pink with different coloured flowers, a light brown plaited belt cinched it in at the waist, and she had a pair of baby pink wedges on her feet. The neckline was quite low and she had a set of long gold and tan necklaces around her neck, with some brown suede bracelets around her wrists. She sighed, closing her eyes and listening to the wave's crash on the beach.

The urge to go down there and squish her toes in the sand was overpowering and she turned to look at the party going on behind her. Normally she would be in there, enjoying the scene and the atmosphere; but not tonight. She had watched Logan go through girl after girl for the time that they had been here and couldn't stand it anymore. When he put his arms around a particularly pretty blonde to dance, like he had with her all those months ago, she quickly left the room. After the kiss the atmosphere between them had been overpowering and it had gotten to the point where they couldn't stand to be near each other.

Not wanting to go in there and watch another blonde make out with him, she turned and looked longingly at the beach just below her. That was when the idea popped in to her head. It wasn't too far down, and there was some ivy and stuff in the way. She hadn't had a ridiculous amount to drink that night, though she was slightly tipsy.

Taking a deep breath, she dropped her brown clutch purse on the ground, then taking off her shoes and throwing them too, she put her hands on the railing. Quickly glancing around to check that she wasn't going to flash anyone, Rory swung her leg over the rail, the added the other one. This was insane and she knew it. The sea air was making her delirious.

She slid her foot in a gap in the ivy and lowered herself down slowly, so her head has just level with the top of the rail. Ok, so maybe she had underestimated her abilities to climb down ivy. It wasn't that strong and there weren't enough foot holes. She was going to have to jump.

Taking another breath and tensing the muscles in her legs, she checked the area below to make sure she wouldn't land on anyone. Loosening her grip and bending her knees she suddenly heard someone call out to her.

"Ace!"

It was too late, she had already let go. The ground zoomed towards her at a scary speed and she braced herself for the impact. Her heels hit the sand hard and she gasped as her legs buckled and she fell to the ground, her hands somehow managing to come in and save her.

"Ugh," she groaned, rolling over slightly and sitting up. A couple of people in the surrounding area were staring at her in shock, clearly not expecting to see a seventeen year old girl jump off a balcony.

Rory herself however, was fine. Maybe a little bruised, but ok. Standing up and brushing the sand off of her dress and body, she picked up her stuff and walked towards the waterfront.

It was all so peaceful. There was a faint sound of the party behind her but other than that nothing but the sound of the waves. She closed her eyes, revelling in the quiet. The water brushed her toes as it washed in and she took another step forward with a sigh.

"Are you crazy?" a voice sounded from behind her and Rory turned to see Logan practically running towards her.

"What do you mean?" she asked, shocked to see him out here.

"I go outside to get some fresh air and see you jumping off of a 9 foot balcony." He said looking at her as if she was insane "That's stupid at the best of times without the amount of alcohol you've consumed. What were you thinking?"

Rory looked at him confused and touched at the concern in his voice, but then remembering the past week frowned.

"What do you care?" she asked harshly.

"Rory." He said looking generally he hurt at her words and she felt regret go through her. Of course he cared; they had been best friends for the past 8 months.

"Logan I'm sorry." She said quickly "Look I didn't mean that. I'm just tired, with everything that's been going on, and then us. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Logan nodded. "I know. This past week has been…difficult."

Rory smiled weakly. "That's putting it lightly."

Logan smiled slightly himself.

"Look, what happened on the boat, I shouldn't have said those things to you. They were wrong, I was wrong."

"I shouldn't have run," Rory replied "You were right; I do run when things get hard."

"Well you were right about the girls. I was being a hypocrite."

"We both were."

There was silence a minute, but it was peaceful.

"It wasn't a bad kiss." Rory said suddenly, her voice quiet.

Logan looked her in surprise and the trace of his old smirk appearing on hi face.

"No?"

Rory laughed and shook her head. "No."

"Well good, I know that part of our relationship works."

"Relationship?" Rory asked, suddenly feeling hope inside of her.

"Well, whatever this thing we have is." Logan said and then sighed "I'm not sure if I can stay away from you anymore."

"Neither am I." Rory said and she closed the distance between them, her arms going around his neck, his around her waist.

When their lips touched it was nothing like before. This was slow and gentle, with his hand lightly caressing her back. There was none of the passionate urgency that had been there the first time; it was caring and sweet. The butterflies in her stomach were still there as they both pulled back, staying in the same position in silence.

"That part definitely works." Rory said, smiling slightly.

Logan smirked and nodded before bringing his lips gently back to hers, and Rory was lost in the moment.

* * *

><p>About twenty minutes later they were in the party again, sat in one empty corner with Logan's arm around her shoulders. Rory wasn't sure what it all meant for them or how the hell it was going to work, but at that moment it didn't matter.<p>

She watched in amusement as Steph danced with a tall blonde guy and Colin stood off to one side, alone, glaring at the two of them.

Logan snickered. "They need to get a grip. This has been going on for about three years."

"Its better for them to be like that than to be like Finn." Rory said, looking to where the Australian stood face to face with a guy about twice his size, evidently the boyfriend of the red head he had just been stalking. "You're not going to do anything?"

"Its Colin's turn, it's not my fault if he hasn't noticed."

"You're willing to let one of you're best friends get beat up because you're other best friend hasn't noticed?"

"It's Finn, it happens everyday. He's used to it by now."

Rory laughed and watched as Colin finally realised and hurried over to the confrontation, trying to steer an ever drunk Finn away without bloodshed.

Her eyes were beginning to droop and she leant her head back against Logan's shoulder with a sigh.

"You want to go?" Logan asked, noticing her weariness.

"No." Rory said suddenly, having the urge to do something out of the ordinary "I want to play poker."

"You what?" Logan said in alarm, leaning forward to look her in the eye.

"I want to play poker." Rory repeated stubbornly "There's always a game at every party I've been to, but I have never once taken part. Well tonight's the night." She stood up and Logan quickly did the same, hoping to deter her.

"Ace, you're terrible at poker." He said, thinking back to the afternoon when the three guys tried to teach both her and Steph how to play. It had ended badly as neither of the girls could understand the concept of bluffing and all of the rules. In their opinion it was a pointless, stupid game, and they vowed never to play again.

Clearly, Rory had changed her mind.

"Am not!" Rory exclaimed indignantly "Besides, that afternoon was ages ago, I've watched you since then, I understand it."

Logan raised his eyebrows doubtfully, but knowing there was no stopping her once she was set on something, agreed to let her go as long as he could help the best he could.

* * *

><p>"That was terrible!" Rory exclaimed as they walked back to the yacht, both of them a considerable amount more drunk than when they started playing poker. "How could you let me play? You know I'm awful at it!"<p>

"You insisted!" Logan said incredulously "According to you, you'd watched the rest of us and knew what you were doing."

"Well I …" she tripped on a plank of wood on the harbour and staggered slightly while Logan rolled his eyes as she descended in to rounds of giggles.

They had reached the boat and Logan jumped lightly on, staggering himself, and held out a hand to Rory, who took it and jumped.

"This is nice." Rory said loudly as they walked below the deck, thankfully with the lights on this time.

"Very." Logan added, too drunk to notice that they weren't really making sense.

"You know you're sweet." Rory continued as they reached her room "And really cute." She grinned impishly as she turned to face him.

"Well I'm flattered." Logan said and he leaned in to kiss her.

Rory smiled as their lips met for the third time that night. Her arms slid up his body in the familiar way to put them around his neck, and his went around her waist as usual. This time however, they were far more intoxicated and the fact that they were alone and happy seemed to reflect on the kiss. As she moaned in to his mouth and Logan started to gently pull away.

Not allowing that, Rory lightly pulled the front of his shirt and their lips crashed together again. She heard him whisper her name in to her mouth and they both staggered in to the open doorway to her room, Logan kicking it shut behind him.

**A/N: So what do you think about Rory and Logan? Please review! Like I said I should be updating as soon as possible. I will send an excerpt of the next chapter to anyone who does review (though I obviously cant if you do not have private messaging enabled).**

**Also, what do you think of the POV's in the story? So far it has been in Rory's, apart from the second chapter when there was a section in Lorelai's. Is anyone interested in having any of the story so far in anyone else's POV? Let me know what you think and I might write it and add it on the end of a chapter or something.**

**I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Okay, so this is chapter 10 finally up. It's been a while again I know, but I have already nearly finished the next chapter so it should be up by Friday at the latest. Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter, it had the best response so far and it's nice to know people are enjoying the story. **

**Also, about writing a couple of extra POV's in at the end of a chapter. I will be adding in a different POV at the end of the next chapter. It will either be Logan or Steph, I haven't decided yet, and it will be on one of the scenes from earlier on in the story.**

**Anyway, this is chapter 10, another long chapter. I hope you like it.**

_Rory smiled as their lips met for the third time that night. Her arms slid up his body in the familiar way to put them around his neck and his went around her waist as usual. This time however, they were far more intoxicated and the fact that they were alone and happy seemed to reflect on the kiss. As she moaned in to his mouth and Logan started to gently pull away. _

_Not allowing that, Rory lightly pulled the front of his shirt and their lips crashed together. She heard him whisper her name in to her mouth and they both staggered in to the open doorway to her room, Logan kicking it shut behind him._

"Mmm" Rory groaned, rolling over with her eyes still closed. That move however, was blocked as she felt something warm and heavy around her waist.

Whatever it was seemed to move and Rory successfully managed to turn around; becoming face to face with Logan.

She blinked in shock and leant back. Logan seemed to wake up and do the same. He quickly removed the arm from around her waist as she hurriedly sat up, pulling the sheet around her body.

"Rory?" he asked looking shocked.

"Oh God." She said as the familiar pounding in her head started and she sunk back in to the pillows with a sigh. "We…"

"Yep." Logan replied and rolled on to his back himself, both of them staring at the ceiling.

"Oh." Rory murmured, keeping her eyes in the air as the night before came flooding back to her.

She had just lost her virginity to a guy she was either in love with or arguing with, while drunk, on a yacht in Italy. She wasn't entirely sure if Lorelai would be proud or horrified. At the moment she wasn't sure what she felt herself.

Rory turned slightly to look at the blonde lying next to her and their eyes seemed to meet. That was when she knew exactly how she felt. Fine. Happy even. Sure she wasn't absolutely joyful that her first time had been like that, but it was Logan. A guy who, despite everything, she trusted completely. He was her best friend, and after everything that had gone on last night, maybe more than that.

It was all so complicated.

"You okay?" Logan asked, breaking the silence.

She nodded. "Yeah, more than okay." A slight smile appeared on her face and Logan smirked in response.

That familiar expression was all she needed. It was Logan. Her Logan.

Leaning forward she quickly brought her lips to his, gently tracing them with her tongue. Logan responded, reaching a hand up to cup her face as she leaned closer to him.

With a sigh, they both pulled back and looked at each other.

"So…" He started.

"We need to talk." Rory said biting her lip subconsciously.

He nodded and there was a moment of silence between them.

"Last night." Logan stated "I don't know what you think. I mean it was…good."

Rory nodded. "Yeah, it was really good." She blushed slightly at this and he smiled, his fingertip brushing her flushed cheek.

"So us." He sated and looked at her.

Rory nodded.

"Ace…" he started "I know in the past I have never done relationship stuff. _You_ know that."

"I know," Rory replied calmly, but she knew that she didn't want to stop seeing him, the night before had been good. Hell it was one of the best nights of her life and she never thought that she, Rory Gilmore, would be saying that about sex. That was when she knew that she was going to try and carry on seeing Logan no matter what.

"Look, Logan." She started, looking in to his eyes "I'm not looking for a relationship. I've done that, in fact I've just done that, and I don't want to go through all that again. Maybe we should just have fun. Keep it casual." She wasn't entirely sure if the words were true or not, and her stomach felt queasy as she spoke them.

Logan raised his eyebrows at her. "You would do that?"

"Yeah," she said and found some truth in her words, despite some of the feeling in her stomach "I would. Believe it or not, girls just want to have fun." She laughed and blushed slightly at her own words and Logan smiled again.

"If you sure…"

"I am."

"Ok. Well, good. I don't want to stop seeing you."

"Neither do I." Logan smiled in response and leant forward to kiss her lips gently.

Rory smiled in to the kiss and then pulled back; frowning as another thought popped in to her head.

"The others…" she trailed off and looked to see what he said.

Logan nodded. "I know, I thought about that. Their reaction is going to be…well I don't know."

"Maybe we should keep it quiet for a little while." Rory suggested slowly "I mean it's not like we are in a proper relationship and stuff. It's not official and really important."

"It will be important to them, they want to know everything." Logan said "But you're right; keeping it quiet is the best option."

Rory nodded and then listened. The boat was silent; no noise what so ever apart from the wind and the waves outside.

"Where is everyone? You'd think there would be someone moving around by now."

"Probably met someone and stayed out all night, or knowing Finn passed out by a bar or on the beach naked."

Rory laughed and then smiled slightly, looking him in the eye.

"So we're all alone?"

Logan raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Yeah…" he said slowly.

"So…" Rory grinned and shifted closer to him on the bed.

He laughed. "I've been a bad influence on you Ace." he said, his smirk returning.

"Oh, shut up." Rory said.

"Gladly" was the reply and he pulled her to him, crashing their lips together in a frenzied kiss.

* * *

><p>Three hours later they were on the deck again. Colin was tying knots on the side furiously, his knuckles turning white as he did so and ignoring the world around him. He had returned first, followed closely by Steph, who was being walked back by a cute Italian guy. That didn't go down well with Colin and he had been ignoring her ever since. Steph of course, was enjoying every minute of it, and spent most of her time smirking at him.<p>

Finn had also returned with a black eye and a bad headache. He had been muttering about over protective boyfriends before he went below to sleep for the rest of the day. Logan, who was sat with a newspaper, had just shaken his head, sharing a light smile with Rory before returning to reading.

"So what happened with you and Logan last night?" Steph asked, distracting Rory from the book she had been reading.

"What do you mean?" Rory asked, keeping her voice cool, even though she was alarmed inside. How could she know what had happened?

"Well, yesterday, and for the past week you and Logan have been barely speaking. At one point you couldn't even be in the same area as each other. Now you seem fine. Something must have happened. You talk?"

"Yeah." Rory nodded relieved "We did and sorted everything out."

"Finally." Steph said shaking her head "This has been going on for way too long. I don't know what the Hell happened below deck that day, but you both needed to snap out of it and sharpish."

She nodded slightly, agreeing with her blonde friend. Steph was right, it had been going on too long and it was silly. It was over now though, and Rory hoped that it would stay that way.

"Let's go to the beach!" Steph said suddenly, making Rory jump "We haven't been here yet and I'm board of this boat."

She was getting restless again, but Rory couldn't help but agree with her. They had spent most of the time they had in Italy on the boat, and remembering the feelings of the sand and the sea from last night, Rory wanted to go as much as the other girl.

"Yeah ok." She replied, getting up slowly "Good idea."

"Where are you going?" Colin asked, looking up from the deck.

"To the beach," Rory said as Steph had already gone to get her stuff "We need a change of scene."

"I'll come." A voice said from beside and she was surprised to see Finn appear.

"What are you doing up?" she asked "It's not 2 o'clock yet."

"Making the most of the sunshine Doll." He said cheerily and Rory raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"You hate the sun." she said.

"Maybe, but he likes the girls in bikinis." Logan said amusedly, standing up himself. "I'll come too." He said and Rory smiled to herself, catching his eye.

"Colin?" she asked, breaking her gaze from the chocolate eyes currently staring a hole in the side of her head.

"I suppose." He said stiffly "You'll probably need some company if Steph goes off with another Italian guy."

Rory smirked at him and Steph herself appeared, glaring at Colin.

"That's my business." She snapped at him and the turned to the others "Are we ready to go?"

"Nearly, I just need to grab my stuff." Rory said and started towards the hatch.

"Hurry then." Steph called to her as she disappeared.

* * *

><p>"Catch!" someone yelled at her as a ball came sailing through the air towards where she lay on a sun bed.<p>

"Crap." Rory muttered as she leant forward to try to catch it. The chances of it happening were very slim, and a pink volleyball at that speed, coming straight for her, was not a good thing.

"Ahh!" she said in panic, ducking at the last second. Colin, who was playing, rolled his eyes.

"Great Gilmore," he said "Really good catch."

He had been a bad mood for the past hour because Steph, as predicted, had gone off with a guy within ten minutes of arriving. Judging by the wink she had sent Rory, it was all in aid of trying to provoke Colin.

She rolled her eyes, picking up the ball and eying it cautiously. Deciding against throwing it back, she waited for someone to come and get it off her. A tall, muscular guy with light brown hair walked over to her and smiled. She smiled back and handed it to him, watching as his eyes trailed over her body, which was clad in denim shorts and a baby blue tank top, her new Prada sunglasses covering her eyes.

"Thanks" he said, bringing his eyes back up to her face.

"No problem." Rory replied, knowing full well that she had done nothing that he needed to thank her for.

He turned, shooting her one last glance, and went back to the net with the guys crowding around it.

Leaning back again, Rory tried to concentrate on her book. After about five minutes of staring at the pages, she gave up. It was unusual for her not to be able to concentrate on a book, but her throat was dry. Standing up, she glanced around for the others. Colin was still playing, Finn had disappeared after the same girl from the night before (the one with the boyfriend), and Logan was no where to be found.

Deciding that asking Colin if he wanted a drink was a recipe for disaster, Rory stood up herself and headed over to one of the beach bars.

It was crowded and there were a lot of Americans of her age, all trying to get in first for the next drink.

A gap formed and Rory slid neatly in to it, looking over the list of cocktails on the menu.

"What can I get you?" the bar tender asked, turning to her quicker than she expected.

"Umm, Summer Passion please." She said, randomly picking a name of the menu.

He raised his eyebrows. "You sure? It's pretty strong."

"Yeah" she nodded "I'm quite tolerant by now."

"Ok." He said, turning to mix the drink.

A minute or so later he handed her a tall oval shaped glass, filled with a peachy coloured liquid and some fruit attached to the straw, the rim glazed with pink sugar. Picking off the fruit and tossing it on the side, she turned to place it on a tall table, meant for people to stand and drink and talk at.

She was just reaching for a napkin, when another hand pulled at the same one.

"Sorry." She said as the other person let go. She was reaching for the one underneath when the person spoke.

"Rory? Rory Gilmore?"

Rory turned to look at the guy. He was tall, dark haired and was good looking in a way, with clear blue eyes. After looking at him for a second, recognition sparked inside of her.

He was from Chilton.

"Ben." She said her voice surprised, and slightly wobbly. What was he doing here? How the hell had she ended up in the same area as someone from Chilton. Not only that; one of Tristan's closest friends.

"Yeah." He said slowly. He was looking at her with a shocked expression. "Long time no see."

Nodding Rory frowned. What was she doing? She was letting herself get intimidated all over again. This was supposed to be the new her (though it had been 8 months). She was happy, had great friends, found her confidences and knew more about who she was inside. She dealt with bitchy girls and arrogant guys almost everyday. Why should anyone from Chilton, never mind Ben, intimidate her?

They shouldn't.

"Eight months." She replied, her voice now cool and calm.

"Right." He said, his eyes widening slightly at her lack of reaction. The Rory that he knew would be stuttering slightly, and probably backing away. "I never thought I'd see you in a place like this."

"Well, like you said, it's been a long time."

"Yeah." He said nodding and looking her up and down in quiet surprise. "So what, are you here with your Mom?"

"No, some friends actually." Rory replied coolly, her eyes narrowing at the thought that he was basically saying the only person that would go on holiday with her was her Mom.

"Oh right. They go to your new school? What was it again?" Rory knew he could remember; he just wanted to see if she had lasted there.

"Andover in England." She said "And yes, they are from school."

"Well…good."

She smiled tightly. The tension in the air was thick, when a tall blonde girl appeared in front of them.

"Your one of the people with Logan Huntzburger right?" she said, looking at Rory piercingly.

"Err…yeah." Rory replied frowning. What the hell did this girl want?

"Do you know where he is?" she asked "I was with him earlier and he said he was going to get a drink, and then he never came back."

"Right…" Rory said slowly, glancing briefly around for the blonde who was almost constantly in her thoughts. No sign. She knew Logan; if he liked a girl he wouldn't leave her and not come back. If he left and was obviously trying to stay hidden, there would be a reason.

This girl seemed clingy, and the fact that she had obviously asked around to see who he came away with, was way too eager and desperate.

"No," Rory said calmly, looking the blonde in the eye, ignoring the feeling of jealousy. He didn't even like the girl by the looks of things. "I haven't seen him all morning." That was technically the truth; she hadn't seen him since arriving at the beach.

"Well where are you staying?" the girl asked, clearly not giving up "I heard you are on a boat. Which one? I can just go and wait for him there."

Rory's eyes widened. This girl was insane. Completely desperate and clingy, it was kind of scary.

"I'm not sure that's a good…"

"Hey Ace, I've been looking for you."

An arm looped around her waist and she found herself relaxing in to the familiar embrace. She could smell the familiar scent of him and she sighed.

"Logan! There you are!" the blonde said, standing up straighter and smiling flirtatiously. When her eyes caught sight of his arm around Rory's waist she frowned, her brown eyes narrowing.

Logan smiled tightly. "Charlotte." He said slowly "I went to get a drink and got talking to a guy I used to know. I lost track of time."

"Oh…well, you're here now." She said.

"Yeah," Logan replied calmly "I see you've met my girlfriend Rory." His arm tightened around her waist and Rory tried to ignore the feeling that sparked in her stomach when he called her his girlfriend.

"Girlfriend?" the blonde, Charlotte, said in shock, her face becoming angry.

"Hey." Rory said smiling innocently "Yeah you didn't really give me a chance to mention it before. What did you say you wanted to see him about?" She leaned closer to him, lifting her hand to run it along his chest.

"Umm…" the girl paused uncomfortably, clearly not wanting to say anything with three people watching her. "Nothing, I just…umm…It doesn't matter. I will see you around Logan. Rory." With that she turned on her heel and practically ran off, her hair swaying behind her.

Rory smiled at her retreating figure and looked away. That was when she realised that Ben was still there.

He was looking between Rory, Logan and Charlotte with a look of bewilderment on his face. His blue eyes were wide and looked shocked and confused.

Logan seemed to notice him for the first time and frowned slightly, looking Ben up and down.

"Err…" Logan raised his eyebrows at Ben, clearly wondering who the hell he was and what he was doing in their conversation.

Ben shifted slightly uncomfortably and glanced at Rory, who snapped out of her daze and back in to action.

"Logan," she started "this is Ben Colton. We went to Chilton together." She gestured to Ben and Logan's eyes narrowed.

He knew about what Rory went through when she was at Chilton. After spending a lot of time together, she had eventually come clean to the boys about why she left home. They had been understandably angry. The three of them had wanted to kill Tristan and weren't particularly happy about Paris (though that side could be left to Steph). It was a good job in a way that they were hundreds of miles apart, but now Ben was here, there was no telling what would kick off.

"Ben," she continued then, not wanting to draw to much attention on Logan's reaction "This is Logan Huntzburger."

"Hi." Ben said quietly, looking uncomfortable against Logan's gaze. Rory cleared her throat, trying to interrupt the silence that fell between them.

"So you were at Chilton when Ace left?" Logan asked suddenly, his intense gaze still on Ben.

"Yeah, I was." Ben said, looking slightly confused at the nickname, but guessing it meant Rory.

"Right." Logan said nodded, speaking lightly as if it was just easy conversation, but Rory knew him well enough to know that it wasn't.

"We should probably get going." Rory said quickly, resting her hand on his shoulder "We ought to check that Colin and Steph haven't killed each other and that Finn hasn't gotten himself in to any more trouble. Right Logan?" she started to pull him away and towards the beach. "I guess I'll see you around Ben." She finished, flashing him a fake smile before turning the other way.

Logan let her pull him down the steps from the bar area and on to the beach front. When she started leading him towards where the others were however, he stopped her, pulling her to stand by the side of one of the beach shacks.

When they stopped she paused, then looked round to meet his angry eyes.

"Well that was awkward." She said trying to lighten the mood. Logan was not amused and Rory shifted slightly under his intense stare.

"He was one of the guys?" he asked, his voice controlled, but she could hear the anger underneath.

"What guys?" she asked, though she knew exactly what he meant.

"Don't play dumb Rory." Logan snapped glaring at her "He was one of them from Chilton wasn't he."

Swallowing she nodded and he sighed.

"Who was he? Have you mentioned him to us before? Rory?"

She sighed and nodded. "He was Tristan's best friend." She said, running her hand over her forehead and pushing her brown hair back and off her face.

Logan shook his head. "So you just let him talk to you?"

"He wasn't doing anything wrong, he wasn't being mean or anything."

"So that makes it better? Those people put you through hell Rory! They even managed to get you out of the country, and you are being pleasant to that guy?"

Rory closed her eyes slightly and then looked back at Logan. "What am I supposed to do? Just attack him the minute is see him? I don't think he's here with anyone from Chilton, he's on his own with people that have nothing to do with this. Me and you attacking him would be wrong."

"They attacked you when you were on your own at that school." He said.

"So we should do the same thing? How does that make me any better than them? "

Logan looked at her incredulously. "You're serious?"

Rory smiled weakly. "Yeah I am. I'm not saying that I forgive him, but it wasn't him really anyway. Most of the time it was just Tristan and the girls."

"So that's it? He may not be the main perpetrator but he was part of it. Come on, the Rory I know wouldn't let someone at Andover get away with that, so why is he any different? What happened to you was wrong Rory. I know Colin and Finn will definitely agree with me." Logan looked determined.

"Don't do anything stupid." She said grabbing his arm "You're right, it was wrong, but let me handle it. I'm not going to just go up to him and start out of the blue, but if he gives me a small reason to at some point, I will."

Logan smirked "You're waiting."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Could you be any more dramatic? But yes in a way, at some point while we're here I will tell him what I think."

"I still think you Colin, Finn and I go to visit him."

"Not yet. Stay put, if he does try something in any way, I will let you."

"Good." Logan said simply and the Rory smiled suddenly. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," Rory said grinning at him "I just don't think I've seen you actually hide from a girl before."

"Well, did you see her?" Logan replied defensively "She was practically stalking me."

"Karma." She said smirking.

"Well, you didn't exactly hesitate to help me out."

"Well," Rory shifted slightly "You looked desperate." She thought back to when it happened; his arm around her waist, the happy feeling she got when he was close to her, the feeling inside when he called her his girlfriend. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Logan didn't do relationships, she knew that. They had agreed.

Logan frowned. "What is it Ace?"

"Nothing." She said quickly "It doesn't matter."

"I know that look. What's on your mind, tell me." He looked insistent and as Rory looked in to his eyes she knew that this wasn't enough. She had loved the feeling when Logan had said she was his girlfriend, even when it wasn't true. She still couldn't ignore the jealousy inside of her when other girls were around. This was Logan though, he didn't commit and she wasn't about to ruin things by making him.

"Nothing, really," She smiled at him "We should go and check on the others, I meant what I said before."

Logan laughed but as she turned he grabbed her arm.

"What are you…" she started when she felt his lips on hers.

"So that's what you're doing" she said smiling against his lips and leaning closer to him.

A few moments later they pulled away and Rory smiled.

"What did you think I was doing?" Logan asked, smiling back and the letting go of her. "Let's go then, make sure that no ones died."

Rory laughed and they headed off towards the volleyball nets.

* * *

><p>""So did you see it? It was amazing!"<p>

"Mmm." Rory said, nodding at the guy that was currently perched on the end of her sun bed.

It was the same guy that had collected the ball from her earlier. He had been watching her ever since she had returned with Logan, and the second the game finished he had been over there talking to her.

As it turned out however, as cute as he was, he was arrogant and annoying. He was obsessed with himself and after the introductions he had been going on about how good a sports player he was.

"Yeah, so like I said it was awesome! When I shot the ball at Connor too, that was brilliant. Did you see that?"

"Yeah." Rory said smiling slightly, trying to look less bored. The truth was she had no idea what he was talking about, and she hadn't been watching any of the game.

"So are you going to the party tonight?" he asked her.

"Probably." She said, relieved that the subject was no longer on sport.

"Well I was wondering if you'd like to go with me." He said and Rory looked up at him again.

Looking over him Rory smiled. No one else had asked her to go and she was sure Logan would have someone else tonight after spending last night with her. Why not?

She opened her mouth to say yes when someone cut her off.

"Sorry, we already have plans for tonight. We weren't going to go to the party, Ace must have forgotten."

Rory frowned and looked to the side to see Logan by her shoulder. What was he talking about? They didn't have plans.

"Oh, ok then, I guess not. Another time maybe. See you around Rory." He smiled at her and turned away, as she felt anger beginning to rise up inside of her.

"What was that about?" she asked angrily, turning to face Logan. "We don't have plans; you didn't need to answer for me."

"That guys a jerk." Logan stated calmly. "You noticed that."

"Not really." She lied, what did it have to do with him? "What gave you the right to answer for me anyway?"

"I didn't think you should spend the night with him." He said, looking angry himself.

"What does that have to do with you?"

"Because it's bothering me, and I don't like that it's bothering me." Logan shifted slightly where he was standing.

"Why should it bother you? You were talking to Charlotte earlier and I'm sure a few other girls too." Rory said looking confused and angry.

"I don't like seeing you with those guys."

"What makes you think I like seeing you think I like seeing you with those girls?"

"You don't?" he said frowning.

Rory paused and thought about earlier. It was now or never to talk to him. All of this time they had been moaning about Steph and Colin dancing around each other, and here they were doing the exact same thing.

"No, I hate it." She said, looking in to his eyes. "I hate seeing other girls with you and earlier, when you called me your girlfriend…It felt good. I was happy. I know that you're not a relationship person, I get that. This is me being honest."

"I'll tell you something myself." Logan said, looking right back at her. "I liked calling you my girlfriend."

Rory pursed her lips, a feeling starting inside of her. "Really?"

Logan nodded and leant forward to kiss her.

**A/N: So what do you think? Does anyone want Ben to do anything in particular while they are away at the same time?**

**Please review, I will be sending the usual excerpt of the next chapter to anyone who does. **

**Like I said at the beginning, I will be updating before Friday. Thanks for reading and I hoped you liked the chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Right then, this is chapter 11, as promised. I don't know how good it has turned out as it was a bit of a rush to get it out for today and I didn't have as much time to re-read and edit it. It isn't the longest in the world either, but I hope you like it all the same.**

**IMPORTANT: I am going away early tomorrow morning for a week, so that is why I had to update so quick. This means that I am not going to be able to update or reply to any reviews for a week. That means no excerpts just yet. I will send them out as soon as I can when I get back, but it will be a while. However, please still review as I will send them eventually, and I have my phone with me, so I can still read them via my emails.**

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed so far and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

_Recap:_

"_No, I hate it." She said, looking in to his eyes. "I hate seeing other girls with you and earlier, when you called me your girlfriend…It felt good. I was happy. I know that you're not a relationship person, I get that. This is me being honest."_

"_I'll tell you something myself." Logan said, looking right back at her. "I liked calling you my girlfriend."_

_Rory pursed her lips, a feeling starting inside of her. "Really?"_

_Logan nodded and leant forward to kiss her._

Rory smiled at to her reflection in the mirror. She was happy, elated in fact. She was with Logan, officially. That was it, after the kiss on the beach they had both decided that it was whet they wanted and had returned back to the yacht to get ready for the party. The first party that they were going to together.

"Hey!" the door suddenly burst open and Steph appeared looking flustered; her blonde hair up in a clip on the top of her head and a pretty pink dress covered her body.

Rory turned. "Just burst right in why don't you?" she said in amusement.

"Oh please, I've shared a room with you for the past eight months." Steph said looking determined "There are more important things going on. Do you know what everyone's talking about at the moment?"

"Erm…no." Rory said, though she had a pretty good idea.

"Well apparently, the biggest playboy on the beach is now in a relationship."

Steph's eyebrows were raised and Rory and Rory shifted slightly. However, she couldn't stop the small smile coming on to her face at the words.

"So it's true!" Steph said noticing this and coming closer.

"Look Steph," Rory said quickly "I know that you don't think that it's a good idea and everything but…"

"Whoa, hold it." Steph cut her off, holding her hand up "I think it's good."

"Huh?" Rory said confused. In the past the blonde had always been adamant that a relationship between Rory and Logan was a bad thing.

"I think it's good" Steph repeated "I know what I have always said about the matter, but after these past few weeks." She shook her head "You two have been at each others throats one second and making out below the deck the next." Rory's eyes widened at that. "But when you are together, you're both happy. That's what matters after everything." Steph smiled "I think you're good together; I've seen the way you look at each other."

Rory smiled fully now, happy again. She was opening her mouth to speak when Steph cut her off again.

"What I am angry about however," she said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at Rory "Is why I am always the last to know! When you and Logan kissed the first time I was last to know and now again! I always find out through the gossip! You're my best friend; we are supposed to talk about stuff like this."

Rory blinked "That's what you're angry about."

"Well, duh!" Steph said indignantly and Rory began to laugh.

"It's not funny!" her she said, shooting daggers at Rory.

"Sorry," Rory said, still smiling "I promise to tell you next time."

"Good." Steph smiled, "So did anything else happen today? I'd rather not have another surprise from some angry bimbo."

Rory laughed, but then remembering what did happen, her smile faded.

"What is it?" Steph asked, noticing the change of expression.

Rory bit her lip. "I was getting a drink from the bar," she said slowly "I was getting a napkin, and I ran in to Ben Colton."

"Ben, Ben, Ben…" Steph repeated to herself, evidently trying to remember who he was. Her eyes widened suddenly and she looked back at Rory. "From Chilton? Tristan's BFF?"

Rory nodded grimly, not smiling at Steph's attempt to add humour.

"Shit." Steph stated and sat on Rory's bed.

"Yep." She said herself, sinking down next to the blonde.

"What happened?"

"Nothing much, he asked what I was doing here, I said that it had been a while, blah, blah and then Logan's new friend appeared."

"Charlotte?"

"Yeah."

"That girls creepy. You know she actually tried to grab my phone to get Logan's number. I mean that's just…Sorry, not the point at the moment. Carry on."

Rory shook her head. "There's not much more to tell. He wasn't mean or anything, just surprised. Then Logan appeared…"

"Uh oh. I doubt that went well."

"Not exactly." Rory said grimly "I got him away before he could do any damage though."

"Wise move." Steph said "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Rory said "I don't really want to start something, not while we are away. I'm not going to see most of them again ever, I should probably leave it."

"What, and let them get away with it?" Steph asked looking bewildered.

"What is it with you lot and revenge?" Rory asked shaking her head.

"They made your life hell, they should pay for that."

"That's exactly what Logan said."

"Then he was talking sense. Come on Rory, just do something."

"No." Rory said firmly "If I do something then I'm no better than him. He knows I've moved on and have a better life than I did have. On that front technically, I've won. Unless he says anything, I'm not going to start anything."

"Okay, I see your point I guess. If that's what you want." Steph shook her head and glanced at the clock.

"We better get going, Colin will be screaming in a minute…"

"Rory, Steph! Are you ready yet? We're going to be late!"

"Right on cue." Rory murmured smiling.

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming." Steph yelled back and the two girls stood up. "He's so impatient." She grumbled and Rory smiled.

"Speaking of Colin, what's going on between you two?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Nothing," Steph said quickly "He annoying. There's nothing going on."

"Right." Rory said, smirking "Sure there isn't."

"There isn't!" Steph said indignantly as Rory began to leave the room "Rory!"

* * *

><p>"All I'm saying is that she was a lovely woman." Finn said defensively as they made their way along the boardwalk towards the party.<p>

"She's 40 years older than you!" Colin replied in exasperation.

"I don't see the problem myself. She would love me, I'm exotic."

"I give up." Colin muttered, shaking his head.

Rory snickered and leaned further in to Logan, who currently had his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"How much further is it?" Steph groaned, stopping briefly to massage her feet.

"Not far." Rory answered smiling slightly, earning a glare from Steph. "I told you not to wear those shoes."

"They go with my dress!" Steph said defensively, straightening back up and hurrying after them. "If I'd worn the blue ones they would have clashed."

"Wouldn't that be a tragedy." Colin muttered.

Steph glared at him but didn't answer.

Logan shook his head. "They need to sort out there issues. Desperately." He murmured in her ear, his breath tickling her neck and causing a shiver to run down her spine.

"You're telling me." She whispered back "It's getting ridiculous, and turning in to a game of 'who can kiss the most people to make the other jealous."

Logan nodded. They both jumped when Finn appeared right next to Rory's head, his face close unnervingly close to hers.

"Ahh," Rory muttered, springing back slightly toward Logan. "What the Hell are you doing?"

"I feel left out." He whined "Those two are too busy arguing, and now you are coupling off in a cute and sickening way. I'm alone!" he pouted and Logan rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure you'll find a girl in there to talk to." He said calmly. "And besides, I'm sure if you throw something at their heads they'll take notice."

"Hey!" was the response from both Steph and Colin.

"So they heard that." Rory muttered in amusement.

"Selective hearing." Loan replied.

"Ah." She said.

"Good God, stop it." Colin said "You're practically talking in time with each other and finishing each others sentences."

"It's cute." Steph said defensively to Colin.

"I didn't think you agreed with relationships." Colin snapped back.

"Well, I guess you don't know everything then do you?" Steph retorted and then turned on her heel to head in to the party, which they had just arrived at.

"Round Two begins." Logan stated as Colin stormed in the door after her, promptly going to the drinks table.

Rory shook her head as the three of them headed in. "More like round 500 and something." She replied "This has been going on for the past year."

"It's been longer than that Love." Finn said grinning "Longer than you two anyway."

"We were nothing like them." Rory said defensively.

"Sure you weren't." Finn said "See you later." With that he walked off in to the crowd of people, slinging his arms around two random girls as he did so.

"Lonely my ass." Logan muttered "He couldn't be lonely if he tried."

Rory laughed and they headed towards the drinks area, slipping easily through the masses of people in the house.

She did notice however, that they were attracting the looks of many people in the room. They may not have been in Italy that long, but they had already gotten to know most of the Americans there. It was also weird how many people Colin, Finn, Steph and Logan had met over the many years that they had spent at boarding school.

It was safe to say that a lot of people in the room knew who they both were, and if not had a brief idea. It was only about a quarter of the people that they hadn't met or didn't know about.

They were both getting interested looks from a lot of the people. Rory however, was the target of the glares from a lot of the female population in the room. By now however, she had gotten used to it and knew how to deal with it. Not that she and Logan had dated before, it was just the fact that most people seemed to assume when they were seen together.

"What do you want to drink?" Logan asked her as they stopped at where some tables were set out. He had managed to snag an empty one that seated four.

"Umm, whatever punch is on offer." She replied, knowing that there would be some alcohol in it, but not a ridiculous amount.

"I'll be right back." He said and she nodded, watching him as he walked away to get the drinks.

She hadn't been alone for thirty seconds when the chair opposite her was suddenly occupied. Occupied by a skinny girl with chestnut hair and a scrap of fabric that could hardly be called a dress.

"Umm, can I help you?" Rory asked the girl slowly, confused at why she would just sit down like that.

"What are you doing with Logan Huntzburger?" she asked, her voice high pitched, but with a hint of malice in it.

"I don't really see what that's got to do with you." Rory replied calmly, though she was angry inside. Why was everyone so obsessed with her and Logan?

"Why won't you tell me?" the other girl asked, Rory realised that she didn't have a clue who she was. "Is it something that bad? Are you hiding something?"

Rory could practically see the wheels turning in her head. If she didn't get what she wanted; she would just make up a vicious rumour in order to ruin her.

"Not that it's any of your business," Rory said, glaring at the chestnut haired girl "but Logan's my boyfriend." Even in these circumstances that word felt good.

The girl's eyes widened. "You're lying!" she practically snarled "Logan doesn't have girlfriends! Everyone knows that."

Rory shrugged. "Think what you like. You asked for the truth, I gave it to you. I don't really care what you think or what your opinion is."

The girls eyes widened in anger, but Rory knew that she believed what she had said. Most people around had seen the chemistry between Rory and Logan. The rumour mill had been going a long time, and anyone that knew the pair closely, knew that the eventual relationship was bound to happen. It was obvious.

"Well…" she started, but was interrupted when the blonde that was currently the centre of their conversation, appeared at Rory's side.

"Your drink Ace." He said; looking at the unwanted guest sat at the chair opposite with a frown.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, sliding his arm lightly around Rory's shoulders.

Chestnut eyed this movement with an even bigger glare. That small action had just proved everything that Rory had said to be right.

She stood up furiously, shooting daggers at Rory. Turning to Logan she gave him what was supposed to be a pitying look, but came of looking jealous and pathetic.

"You're wasting your time with her, you know that?" she said, shooting Rory another glance "She's all wrong for you, we can all see it."

Logan didn't flinch at her words, just sent her a cool glare back.

"I wouldn't be so sure of yourself if I were you." He said; his voice low and scary, Rory was glad it wasn't directed at her. "You really don't know anything. If your insinuating that girls like you are better suited to me then you're so wrong it's almost funny. Get a grip, and if you _ever_ insult my girlfriend like that again…well, let's just say it wouldn't be a wise decision on your part. Ace is perfect for me; I would leave now if I was you. You're not wanted here."

With an angry huff, the girl turned the other way and stalked off; ignoring the amused looks she was getting from other people in the room.

Rory turned to Logan in slight shock. She couldn't believe that he had just done that. He had defended her, and in a way that made her heart flutter.

"Thanks." She murmured smiling at him slightly, her blue eyes shining. At that moment, as he smiled back at her, she felt truly happy. Completely and truly happy.

"Hey, she had no right to talk to you like that." Logan said, some trace of anger still in his eyes, but most of it was something else, something directed at her. The flutters in her stomach got worse and she smiled even more. "She was wrong. You are right for me; I think I knew that from the moment I met you in that classroom that day. I was just stupid and ignored it."

"So was I." Rory murmured leaning in to him for a kiss. It was slow and sweet, both of them expressing all of the feelings that they had towards each other in to that one kiss.

"Mmm." Rory gasped slightly in to the kiss and pulled away.

"Dance?" Logan asked her quietly and she nodded, letting him pull her gently on to the crowded dance floor.

She looped her arms around his neck, his hands on her hips, pulling her close to him. She could smell his intoxicating scent and leaned in closer, her eyes drifting shut as she was lost in the moment.

"I'm glad this worked out." She said quietly as she rested her head on his chest. "I don't think I could have stood what we went through any longer."

"Neither could I." Logan replied, placing a small kiss on the top of her head. "You look beautiful you know."

Rory flushed slightly and looked down. She was wearing short jean skirt with a baby blue top that was off the shoulder with an intricate design in the fabric. A pair of light blue high heeled sandals adorned her feet, her toenails painted blue to match. She wore minimal jewellery, just a sliver watch and bracelet and a little silver necklace in the shape of a heart.

She still had the ring her mother had given her, it was very rare that she ever took it off. It was a reminder of her wherever she was and however far away from each other they were.

At that particular moment there was a bang and a yell from the other side of the room. They both turned to see Colin punching a guy with spiked blonde hair and a polo shirt.

"What the…" Rory started when she saw Steph appear at the side, yelling for them to stop.

"Of course, what else?" Logan muttered irritated. "This whole thing is out of control."

"Maybe we should do something." Rory said as they fighting pair fell in to a table. "We both know Colin isn't exactly the best fighter. He might be able to hold his ground against the guys Finn fights with, but that guys got muscles. Typical Steph."

Logan rolled his eyes in response. "I'll go." He said "You stay here, its getting messy up there."

Rory nodded. "Be careful." She said as Logan started to turn "I think spikey's got friends. Muscular ones."

"Have a little faith Ace." Logan said smirking "They may be big but I've been known to be pretty good in a fight. They're not the only ones with muscles you know."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She said.

He put his hand to his chest in mock hurt and turned to leave again.

"Logan!" Rory called quickly.

He turned again and she raised an eyebrow.

He rolled his eyes himself. "Alright, I'll be careful okay?"

"Good." Rory said and he grinned and turned again. This time she let him go, walking back over to where they had sat the first time. Amazingly someone hadn't taken their seats and she took a seat, relived to be able to sit again.

It was quietening down where Colin and Steph had been, and Rory assumed that Logan had pulled something off to stop it.

She was so engrossed in listening that she didn't notice someone come and take the seat next to her. Again.

Looking up with an aggravated sigh, she was surprised when her blue eyes met a pair of dark brown ones. They were familiar, but the last she expected to see.

"Ben." She said, shocked.

He smiled slightly, though it was more of a cocky smirk. Rory narrowed her eyes. She had seen that look before. It was a cross between the way Tristan used to look at her and the way guys like Jack Hardy did.

"Hey Rory." He said, that expression still on is face. "I was looking for you."

"Were you." She stated calmly, keeping her voice and face expression cool.

"Yeah." He continued "I can't get it out of my head how much you have changed. I mean you were hot before but now…" he whistled as he ran his eyes up and down her body and her short skirt and heels."

Rory shifted angrily. Who the hell did he think he was?

"Well thanks for that, but my boyfriend is coming back in a minute, and I don't think it would be a good idea for you to be here when he does." Her tone was laced with anger and Ben seemed slightly shocked at the look in her eye. Rory had more than enough practice dealing with people like him, but he didn't know that. He had no idea what she was capable of now.

"You mean Logan Huntzburger?" he said, managing to make his voice sarcastic and teasing. "Please Rory. Why would he bother with you? You're just a Mary, and I don't think people like him bother with you. Did you meet him while you were here? You're probably just a game to him. That little act earlier at the beach may have fooled the ditzy blonde, but it didn't fool me."

Rory was angry before, but now she was furious. How dare he?

"You don't have any idea what you're talking about." She snapped angrily, standing up so she was much taller. "For your information, I didn't meet Logan here. He is one of the people I've come away with. Another thing you might like to know is I'm not a Mary. Not anymore. You might want to go and find a new insult."

Ben looked completely baffled now. They were attracting quite a lot of attention by now and he wasn't going to let Rory win in front of all these people.

"God you really have changed haven't you. You've turned from a frigid prude to a sluttish bitch."

"I would take that back if I were you." A heavily accented voice said by Rory and they both turned to see Finn standing there with a murderous look on his face.

"Who the hell are you?" Ben asked looking angry.

"Finn Morgan." Finn said his voice deadly "And I'll have you know that this girl is one of the most sweet, kind hearted ladies in the world. She the farthest thing from a slut you can get. So like I said, take it back."

"Who's gonna make me?" Ben asked cockily, though there was a look in his eyes that said he was nervous.

"Me." Another voice said and Ben turned just in time to get punched in the nose by a very angry Logan. Colin and Steph were stood just behind him.

Ben gasped in pain and fell to the floor.

"Now you listen to me." Logan said, his voice cold and deadly "You and your little gang of cronies mat have treated her like shit in the past, but that stopped a long time ago and is not going to happen again. Now you go and leave this party, and preferably Italy; or you'll be finding that you have a whole load of guys coming after you." Logan's face was serious and you could see the fear in Ben's eyes.

"And a girl." Steph said, glaring at him too. Colin behind her nodded.

Glancing one more time at Rory, Ben stood up to leave.

"Wait!" Rory said suddenly, not wanting to let him go without a quick goodbye herself.

Ben stopped and turned and Rory picked up the beer he left on the table.

"Don't you _ever_ speak to me like that again." She said and with that she poured the beer on to his head and stood hard on his foot with the heel of her shoe.

He gasped in pain and humiliation and looked around at the laughing faces of the rest of the people in the room. He was out of there like a shot.

"Good riddance." Rory muttered.

"Rory that was great!" Steph said, hugging her friend "You showed him!"

Rory smiled slightly.

Logan wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Back to the yacht?" he asked quietly. Rory nodded and the five of them left the party together.

* * *

><p>It was early the next morning when Rory got a phone call.<p>

She awoke to the loud ringing noise of her cell phone. Groaning, she leaned over Logan, who was somehow still asleep, and answered it.

"Hello?" she murmured sleepily.

"Rory, its you Grandmother."

Rory winced at the sound of that voice this early and rolled back in to her pillows.

"Hi Grandma." She said, trying to sound more awake than she was. "What's up?"

"That's not a very polite way of asked." Emily scolded and Rory sighed, really not wanting to deal with her this early. "But anyway, I have something to tell you."

"What?" Rory asked and she heard Emily sigh again at the language.

"Well," she said "I think its time you came back to home and went to Chilton."

**A/N: Okay, so what did you think? Again sorry for any mistakes, made but I didn't have time to go through it properly. I hope you liked it all the same.**

**Like I said, I can't reply to reviews for a week, so no excerpts, but I can still read them so please review! I will send an excerpt as soon as possible.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank you so much! Over 200 reviews! I can't believe the story has got this far and I want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed. I really appreciate it. **

**I know it has been a while, and in case you didn't see the AN in the last chapter, I have been away and then I had to write this one, so I am sorry for the delay. I have rushed again to get it out today, so it may not be perfect and edited again, but I don't think it is too bad and I hope you like it all the same.**

**I know that I have said that I would be adding either Steph or Logan's POV in at the end of one of the chapters, but I haven't had time to write anything but the actual chapter. Soon though I will put one up, I promise. Also, in reviews of chapter 10, some people put that they wanted to see volleyball guy again. Originally I was just going to have him in the once, and then after that I was going to bring him in at the party, but I completely forgot. So I am sorry to anyone that wanted to see him again.**

**This chapter has Tristan's POV in it (He is back in this chapter). I wanted to give his view on everything in the morning of Chilton for reasons that will become clear in the next chapter. The rest is in Rory's POV as usual.**

**Anyway, this is chapter 12, Its the longest one yet. I hope you like it!**

_Recap:_

"_Hi Grandma." She said, trying to sound more awake than she was. "What's up?"_

"_That's not a very polite way of asking." Emily scolded and Rory sighed, really not wanting to deal with her this early. "But anyway, I have something to tell you."_

"_What?" Rory asked and she heard Emily sigh again at the language._

"_Well," she said "I think its time you came back to home and went to Chilton."_

If Rory had been half asleep before, she definitely wasn't now. Sitting straight up in bed and grasping the phone tighter, she blinked, trying to see if she was asleep and the whole thing was a bad dream.

It wasn't. It was all too real.

"What?" she gasped, not caring that her Grandmother would not like the language.

"Its time you came home and went back to Chilton." Emily repeated "You have had most of the last school year at that school now and it is time that you became serious again and came back to Hartford."

"But…" Rory said, struggling to find words. This couldn't be happening! There was no way she could go back to Chilton. "I'm happy. Happy at Andover, happy with my friends, I can't leave now! I can't go back to Chilton, it was terrible last time; the whole reason I left in the first place!"

"Oh Rory, everything that happened there was in the past. I'm sure it will all be fine now that you have all matured and everything."

"I doubt it." Rory muttered but Emily seemed not to hear her.

"Look," she said "I understand that you have enjoyed being in England for the past eight months, and I am sure it has been a good cultural experience for you, but its time to come home now. You're starting your senior year next year, and applying for collages. You need to be responsible and around your family. You're Grandfather and I will be helping you all the way, after all; we are Yale Alumni's"

"Wait, I don't even know if I want to go to Yale yet!" Rory said exasperatedly.

"Well, we can sort that out later." Emily said, sounding irritated. That was clearly another reason they wanted Rory to come home; to make sure they had time to persuade her to go to Yale. "But it is time Rory. You will be making the stages of becoming a proper young lady this year, and you need to be around me to be able to do that properly."

"What?" Rory said again. "This is all about you wanting me to become part of society?" She could feel the anger building up inside of her now.

"Don't take that tone with me." Emily said sounding angry herself now "And of course it isn't. You need to be comfortable your senior year, and your Grandfather and I thought that you would be best back home around us and your parents."

"I'm comfortable here!" Rory replied desperately "I miss you, and Mom and Dad, but I love it at Andover."

"Well maybe that's the thing." Emily said tersely.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you've been away so long that maybe you are getting too comfortable there. You have to come home some time, it will be best coming home and adjusting again now instead of having to come home to collage and not being ready. Its better for the adjustment, you can't be distracted at Yale."

Rory ignored the fact that her Grandmother had once again assumed about Yale. Something didn't add up there.

"That doesn't make sense Grandma." She said frowning slightly.

"Well that's the reason." Emily said and there was a short pause, then she continued. "Plus, I have heard things about that school."

"What do you mean heard things?" Rory asked, confused.

"As good a school as it is, there is supposed to be a lot of trouble going on there. I have been looking in to it at the DAR and it seems like a bad influence. I have also thought back to when your father went there, and I remember he got in to some trouble too. Lots of partying and drinking." You could hear the distaste on Emily's voice. "I just think its best if you come home to focus on your studies. I see your grades are still high."

"If my grades are still high then what is the problem?" Rory asked, though she was starting to loose hope. Her Grandmother seemed set on her decision. "It's not like I am wild and go to all the parties and get in to lots of trouble." So she felt bad for the slight lie about the parties then, but it was getting desperate.

"I know that." Emily replied "But its best to make sure nothing happens this year. Senior year can be a dangerous time for a girl, just like Strobe says."

Rory froze at the mention of her other Grandfather and her mind drifted back to the night of that terrible dinner. She couldn't believe that her Grandmother was repeating what he had said, especially after the conversation they'd had after the couple left.

Then it hit her.

"So you're bringing me back so you can keep an eye on me?" she said, accusation in her voice.

"No." Emily said, but Rory knew it was a lie "Its time for you to come back. After all, you're on holiday, with a load of people we haven't met, for weeks! Your mother didn't even tell us they're names. They could be complete delinquents for all we know!"

"They're not!" Rory said angrily.

"Well that may be, but I am not willing to take the risk of you getting corrupted. We spoke to Headmaster Charleston awhile ago and your place is set for the start of senior year. You can finish your holiday and we will see you in a week and a half for Friday Night Dinner."

"Wait!" Rory said suddenly, picking up on what her Grandmother said. "You said you spoke to him awhile ago? How long ago? How long have you had this planned?"

"Oh Rory, I hardly see why that matters." Emily said. She didn't need to carry on, that was enough of an answer.

"So you've had this planned for ages, behind my back, and you are only telling me now?"

"Don't be so dramatic, you're starting to sound like you're mother." Emily said exasperatedly "Now that's enough Rory. I will see you in a week and a half; enjoy the rest of your holiday."

With that she hung up, and Rory was left clutching the phone in horror.

She had no choice. She couldn't just not go back. Her Grandparents were paying for it, well, most of it. If they didn't pay for Andover, she would have to come home. Even if she refused to go to Chilton, she would have to go to Stars Hollow High. That meant no Ivy League collage in the future. Chilton was her only option.

That was it. She was going back. Back to Hartford. Back to Paris and Tristan. Back to the constant torture every day.

Then she stopped herself. No. Not this time. She had come to Andover and changed for a reason, there was no way she was going to go through all that again. This time she would be able to stand up for herself. She had been doing it fine for the past eight months; she could do it when she was in Hartford. The run in with Ben had been the start, she had gotten through that, she could get through it all.

Then she thought about Andover and everything she was leaving behind and closed her eyes. She couldn't do it. Not being able to think about Steph, Colin, Finn and Logan, she knew there was only one person she wanted to talk to right then.

Sliding out from under the covers, away from Logan, who had somehow managed to stay asleep through the whole thing, she walked out of the room and kept going until she reached the deck.

It was silent around her. All of the others were asleep below and anyone else in the harbour must have been too. The only noises were the waves lapping gently on the side of the boat and the slight breeze. It was peaceful, and any other time she would have revelled in it. But not then.

Looking at her phone again, she dialled the familiar number and listened to the ringing tone, praying that it would be answered.

"Hello?" the person on the other end of the line said.

"Mom," Rory said and her voice started to shake "I need to talk to you."

* * *

><p>An hour later Rory was sat on one of the lounges on the deck, staring out across the ocean.<p>

The conversation with her Mom had confirmed what she had originally thought. She had no choice. Her Dad had money, but not enough to keep her going to Andover and paying all by himself, especially if was going to help pay for Yale too.

Lorelai had been furious. Ringing up Emily straight away to yell but there was no other options; Rory was going back to Chilton.

They had tried to make light of the fact that now Rory was coming home, they would see more of each other. They would be able to catch up on mother daughter time. That was good. Despite everything, Rory was looking forward to seeing her Grandparents too. She had missed them a lot. In there own, weird way, they did have her best interests at heart, even if they didn't agree and were making her do something she didn't want to do.

That didn't cancel out however, everything she would have to leave behind.

"Hey, what are you doing up here?" Steph's voice rang out through the air and Rory blinked, turning to see the blonde standing in the doorway to the deck. "Are you okay?" Steph asked then, catching sight of Rory's face.

"Is who okay?" Finn suddenly appeared beside Steph and frowned too. "What's going on?"

Rory just shook her head slightly, not able to speak. She couldn't loose them, she just couldn't.

"Colin! Logan!" Steph yelled, taking one look at Rory's face "Get you're asses up here now!"

Steph wasn't stupid. She knew Rory and she knew that under normal circumstances she wouldn't have even been up yet. Sitting above deck in pyjamas, while clutching a phone as if her life depended on it, was not normal Rory behaviour. Steph didn't care about the looks she was getting from people on the neighbouring boats for yelling. At that moment all she was bothered about was finding out what was up with her best friend.

"Ace?"

Rory looked up at the sound of Logan's voice. He and Colin had appeared on the deck and were all watching her with concerned and questioning looks.

"I have to go back." She practically whispered "I have to go back home."

"What?" Colin looked shocked

"My Grandma called," she started "She wants me back home so she can keep an eye on me and introduce me to all her DAR friends." Steph shuddered at the mention of the DAR.

"You have to go back to Chilton." Finn said, completely serious for once and realising what was also the matter with Rory.

"You can't!" Steph said, stepping forward in alarm "They made your life Hell before, and I know you can stand up for yourself and everything now, but you can't deal with it all alone!"

"You have to go back?" Colin asked looking pale "I mean, it's only your Grandparents. How do they have the power to make you go to Hartford?"

"They're paying for it all." Rory said quietly and Colin pursed his lips.

None of them were stupid, they all understood the situation. They understood that Rory couldn't not go back home.

"But…You can't just go." Steph said, looking tearful herself "Not now, not after everything. How will they even get you in to Chilton?"

"They've had this planned for months." Rory replied "They've just left it until now to mention it. The less time until I go, the less chance there is to put up a fight. I think they're frightened that I will become my Mom."

Her voice changed in to anger at the end, she was furious that her Grandparents were like this against her mother. She should be a role model, never mind anything else.

Colin and Finn shook they're heads. It was terrible, only someone in the Hartford elite would be able to do this. There was no way out.

"You can't go back alone." Steph repeated "You might be able to handle it but you should have people there with you."

"She will." Logan said suddenly, speaking for the first time. Rory turned to meet his eyes, knowing that he would be the most painful person to leave.

"What?" Rory asked confused, her voice still quiet.

"We'll go with you." Finn finished.

Rory blinked in shock and Steph nodded. "It's a good idea."

"Agreed." Colin said.

"But…How?" Rory asked, feeling shocked "You can't." She couldn't believe that they had offered to do that for her.

"Sure we can." Finn said cheerily, his usual personality back. "All we have to do is get a school transfer. They'll let us in at short notice if they hear our last names. It'll be easy love."

"Yeah, I'll call my Dad." Colin added "He won't care where I go as long as it's a good school. Chilton definitely is."

"Neither will mine." Steph added, smiling herself now. "This is great! You'll finally be able to get those asses back for what they did to you, and you won't have to do it alone; it's perfect."

"You'd do that for me?" Rory asked, stunned. Sure, they were all best friends and everything, but they were willing to move schools to another continent for her. She felt tears well up in her eyes, but this time for a completely different reason. They were true friends. Never in her life had she expected that she would find people who would stick by her like that.

"Course we would. We're you're friends. We don't want to lose you, and we can't let you go through that again, even if you can handle yourself better now. The chances are Andover would kick us out soon anyway, so this is just putting forward the inevitable." Steph replied cheerily. "I can hardly wait! Ooh, this means a whole different climate, so a whole new wardrobe. Shopping!" she practically squealed the last bit. Sending the others a happy grin, she hurried from the deck, probably to call her parents and then to get her purse.

Colin shook his head, but this time there was no exasperation like usual, just amusement. What had changed there?

"She's right though," Colin said "It's all going to be fine, and probably end up better for us in the long run. I'm sure our parents will want us to be close to them in Hartford, even if it does mean that for us they'll have there watchful gazes over everything we do." He shuddered slightly at that then grinned "Oh well, it was time for a change of scene. It's just a pity that Andover didn't get the chance to kick us out, this has to be the first school we've left voluntarily."

Rory laughed at that, and the Finn stepped forward again.

"Come on darling!" he said taking Colin's arm "We have to go and call the parents about our relocation plans. Maybe they will let us move in together, what fun that'd be!" he grinned at the look on Colin's face and turned back to Rory and Logan "See you later, don't do anything I wouldn't do!" With a cheery wave over his shoulder and a quick wink at Rory, he turned and left the deck, pulling Colin with him.

Silence fell over the two of them as they turned towards each other.

"Thanks." Rory said quietly, sending him a small smile.

"For what?" he asked, his voice the same level of hers.

"For saying that you'd come. For not letting me go back alone. I don't know what I would have done."

Logan smiled slightly himself. "You don't need to thank me for that Ace." He said taking a step towards her "I couldn't let you go alone and face those jerks. Plus…" he paused and met her eyes, taking a step forward to put his arms around her waist "I just got you. I don't want to lose you all over again, I don't think I could."

"You won't lose me." Rory said smiling, tears welling up in her eyes again. As Logan smiled back at her, she leant forward and placed her lips gently over his.

It started off as a sweet kiss, the raw emotion between them flowing through it, the feelings between them after he had said that they would go home to Hartford all coming to light. Rory's arms gradually began to run up the planes of Logan's chest, brushing over the collar of his shirt, until they were wrapped around his neck.

His arms tightened around her waist as he deepened the kiss, pulling her even closer to him. Running his tongue lightly against her lips, she parted them, allowing his tongue to sweep in and eliciting a moan from her.

"Logan…" she murmured his name as he bent his head to place a butterfly kisses along her jaw line, going lower to scatter them over her neck. She gasped in slight shock when he bit down gently on the skin there.

Pulling his head back up to hers she put her lips back on his again, and another frenzied kiss started up. Logan's hands started to edge up her shirt and she moved her own down to the hem of his.

"Oh my God!" a voice suddenly sounded from behind them and they leapt apart in shock at the noise, turning to see Steph standing a few metres away staring at them in slight horror.

"Steph!" Rory practically shrieked, shocked and slightly embarrassed. It then occurred to her that she was standing on the middle of the open deck, in broad daylight, still in her pyjamas, while heavily making out with Logan. They had been so far gone that who knows what would have happened if Steph hadn't appeared. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she looked at her blonde best friend.

"Okay," Steph said, holding up her hand in a traffic light motion. "I get that you two are totally crazy about each other, and are sickeningly happy to be together. I get that. I get the reason for wanting to kiss and do god knows what else. I draw the line about it in public though!"

Rory blushed again but Logan just shook his head in amusement.

"I don't think you can be the one to talk there Steph." He said smirking while stepping closer to Rory again and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Maybe not, but this is you two! My God you're practically my family! A couple of kisses I don't mind, but what if I had walked up here a few minutes later? What position would you have been in then? I don't care how much I love you both; I have no desire to see either of you naked."

"Okay, okay, we get it." Logan said the smirk still on his face. "We won't go this far in public again. The same goes for you at the next party though, when we are subjected to see you getting groped by some guy on the dance floor."

"That's completely different." Steph said obstinately "You sound like Colin. Anyway, I've called my Dad and he's already getting on the phone to Chilton. I think the other two are doing the same. I'm going shopping, you don't want to come?" That was directed at Rory.

"No, I'm good." Rory said smiling slightly, though her face was still flushed from before. "See you later."

"Okie dokie then," Steph said, walking towards the pier "See you later."

"I'd better get on the phone to my Dad." Logan said, frowning slightly at the thought of talking to his father.

"Yeah, sorry…" Rory started, pausing when she realised what Logan coming back to Hartford meant. "Wait," she said, grabbing his arm "You coming back means you're going to be in the same are as your Dad, he's going to be near you all the time. You might have to live at home."

"I know."

"But that means…"

"Ace." He cut her off "its fine. I don't mind, honestly. Sure, I might not love living with the elder Huntzburger's, but you'll be around and so will the others. That'll make up for things. Plus, it means I'll get to see Honour more often too, she lives in Hartford."

"Are you sure?" she asked. She couldn't believe he was doing this for her.

"Yeah, Ace honestly. It's fine. I'll see you after I've made the call. Go get dressed and we can go to the beach then. Hopefully Steph won't be ages, then we can move on this afternoon."

Rory smiled at the thought of going somewhere new. "Okay," she said, feeling completely happy "See you later."

Logan grinned and placed a quick kiss on her lips before turning to leave, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he did so.

Rory sighed as she turned to look out to sea again. Maybe it would be okay after all.

* * *

><p><span>Two and a half weeks later<span>

"Hello?" Rory answered in to the phone, absentmindedly walking through her childhood home to find a particular book.

"Hey Ace, how's it going?"

She smiled at hearing Logan's voice. It had been a week and a bit since they had returned from the trip. After it had ended, Rory had returned home to Stars Hollow, while the others all went off to go and see their families at wherever they were on vacation. They had all met up again a few days earlier to get ready for going back to school.

All of the others parents had agreed to let them go to Chilton, jumping at the chance to get their kids in a place where they could keep an eye on them. Not that it stopped them; they had already been to one party since they returned. Though that one was at Yale, so the parents had been oblivious, thinking it was just a tour. All except Lorelai, who was delighted that Rory was attending parties, and had encouraged her to go.

It had come of a bit of a shock to the other four when they met her. Sure, they had heard many stories about her from Rory, but no one could ever really be prepared before meeting the infamous Lorelai Gilmore. Rory had been nervous about her mom's reaction to the group. After all, they kind of represented everything that Lorelai had run away from. That wasn't the case however; Lorelai had gotten along really well with them all, taking a special likening to Finn. The two of them had spent hour talking together, Lorelai being delighted that Rory had an 'exotic' friend.

Rory suspected that some of the reason for her mom to be so accepting of the group was because she knew what they had done for her over the past nine months.

On the subject of Logan also, their relationship was also going really well. After the time apart they had been more than happy to see each other, though Lorelai was careful not to let them alone together for any extended period of time. Rory had come clean to her about everything that had happened in Italy. Her Mom hadn't reacted badly, well not too badly, and was one of the only people that knew about their relationship. They had decided to keep it out of the Hartford society for now, not wanting the limelight on them too much. The only people who knew about it were Finn, Colin and Steph, Lorelai, Christopher, Lane, and whoever had seen in Italy (but they didn't really count). Emily still didn't know the names of the people Rory went away with.

All of those however, would change once they got to Chilton. She wasn't sure whether that was good or bad. Not wanting to ponder on that for too long, she went back to the conversation with her boyfriend.

"Not bad." She said, grabbing the book she wanted and taking it back to her room to put in her book bag. "Not particularly looking forward to tomorrow but hey, can't help that."

"It won't be so bad." Logan reassured her "We'll be there and you'll finally get to show those girls that they can't mess with you. We'll gat to meet Tristan too." She could practically see Logan's smile thought the phone. She knew that 'we' meant him, Colin and Finn.

"Logan…" she started, they had been though this countless times.

"I know, I know." He said sighing "I still don't want him to get away with everything though." She could hear the anger in his voice.

"I know," Rory replied "But let me handle it, at first anyway. I need to show him myself that he can't mess with me."

"Yeah, I get that." Logan said sighing "I still don't like it though. You promised that if he tried anything big that we could take care of it."

"I did, and you can. But not without my say so."

"Okay, I understand. I just wanted to check you were okay before tomorrow. Is Steph still driving you in?"

"Yeah, she's picking me up at the time we decided earlier." The day before when Logan had offered to give Rory a ride to school so she didn't have to get the bus, Steph had objected, saying that out was tradition to start the beginning of each term together. Rory had to admit that she had a point, they had started every morning together at Andover, and she missed living with the blonde.

"Okay, good." Logan said "I was just checking in. It's late and I'm sure you want to be up bright and early tomorrow; all fresh for the first day of senior year."

"Hey, it's important! Unlike _some_ people, I want to make a good start." She responded, reacting to the hint of teasing in his voice.

"I know, I know." She could hear the amusement in his voice still "Get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Rory replied smiling and they hung up.

It was going to be a rough first start, but it would be fine. They were all together.

It was then that she found her uniform missing. Feeling panic rise in her chest about being unprepared she called out.

"Mom!"

* * *

><p>TRISTAN POV<p>

_The next morning_

Tristan smirked as he pulled his Ferrari in to the Chilton parking lot. The first day of senior year and he had never felt better. He was now one of the oldest in the school and everyone knew he was the king of Chilton.

The girls all loved him and the guys all wanted to be him. That was the way it went around there. He knew already that Summer and her best friend Catherine were arguing over which one was going to date him first, and that Madeline and Louise were cataloguing every move he made in their heads ready to pass it on later.

It was all good; the only thing that was missing was Mary.

He hadn't seen Rory Gilmore since the day in the cafeteria just over 9 months ago. To be honest he couldn't believe she had lasted that long at Andover. Everyone knew about what went on there; there was no way she would be able to hack it. Though she could already be home he thought, just going to that little high school in her town where no one bothered her. She would be close to her mom and the Grandparents who would always protect their perfect little angel.

He knew that people missed her in their own way. In the short time that she had been at the school she had made a big impression. Paris, Madeline and Louise missed the fact that there was no one innocent to pick on. The girls were glad she was gone so that all of his attention could be focused on him, and the guys were sad there was no longer a girl to tease and take bets on.

He however, was sad that he never got to take away that innocence of hers. He wasn't going to deny that she was an object of his lust. He wanted to be her first, for him to be the one to take away her virginity. What a score that would be, to take the Mary out of the Mary. Still she was gone now, he had wondered if he would ever see her again. Maybe he would go and visit her little town one day, get her all riled up again.

Smirking even more at the thought he stepped out of the car and in through the doors of the school.

It was just the same as he left it six weeks ago. Everything exactly the same. People smiled at him when he passed them, a few of them saying hello. He acknowledged them slightly, not really bothering with them and looking for his crowd.

"Tristan!" he heard someone call and turned to see Summer leaning against a locker down the hall with the rest of his group. Smirking again, he headed towards them.

"Hey, how's it going Man?" Austin asked, smirking back at him.

"Not bad," Tristan replied nonchalantly "You?"

"Same." Austin replied, glancing next to him with raised eyebrows as Summer wrapped her arms around his side.

"How was you're summer?" she asked her voice low and sultry, Tristan knew he would be able to get her easily before the day ended; he was mentally picking a supply closet as he answered. "Not bad." He repeated the same answer he gave Austin.

"Great! I missed you." Tristan smirked in response.

"I heard Ben didn't have a great summer." Louise, ever the gossip, said, turning to look at Ben who was leaning against another locker. "I heard there was trouble with some girl and her friends in… Italy, was it?."

"A girl?" Tristan asked in amusement.

"Not just any girl…" Ben started but was interrupted when Madeline appeared next to Louise and interrupted them.

"Guess what I just heard." She said her eyes wide and excited "I was just in the office and I heard the secretary on the phone and we have new students!"

"So?" Austin asked, not seeing what the fuss was about.

"Not just any students," Madeline continued "It's Logan Huntzburger, Colin McRae, Finn Morgan and Stephanie Vanderbilt."

"As in _the_ Logan Huntzburger?" Louise asked, looking shocked.

"Yeah, the one and only."

"Wow." Louise said smiling and Tristan frowned. He knew about Huntzburger's reputation. He was a bigger playboy than him. "I wonder who he'll date first. I know the other two are hot as well."

"So is Vanderbilt." Austin said smirking "I also heard that there was another girl in their group too. Apparently she was new at Andover last year and almost instantly became their friends. My cousin there says she's really hot, and can handle her self really well. Is she coming too?" he looked at Maddy.

"Not that I heard." She said, "But there's something else too."

"Logan's supposed to be really cute." Summer said and Tristan's frown intensified. He didn't like this al all.

"I heard he was off the market." Louise said suddenly. This was big news to them.

"What?" Summer said "Since when? A guy like Logan would never settle down."

"I heard he did, and with that other girl in the group. I don't think I know her name. Apparently they've been dancing around each other for ages, but this summer they finally got together."

"You must be wrong." Summer said disbelievingly and Tristan had to agree. He knew of Huntzburger, he wouldn't just settle down.

"That's what I heard." Louise concluded.

"Guys!" Madeline said, "There is something else! There's another new student. Rory Gilmore."

They all froze and Tristan blinked.

"What's she doing back?" Austin said shocked.

"Obviously couldn't hack it at her new school." Paris said, appearing in to the conversation for the first time "I'm not surprised."

"Neither am I." Summer said.

"Wait." Ben said speaking for the first time in a while. I frowned, he seemed kind of pale. "There's something you need to know about Gilmore…"

He was interrupted when there was a noise from outside.

**A/N: Okay, so that's the end of chapter 12. I will be updating as soon as I can, and it will probably be in less that a week's time. **

**In case it wasn't clear in the chapter, Rory's Grandparents have the power to bring har home because they are paying for it. As it is more expensive than Chilton, Christopher is paying what is extra, but he is not paying for it all and can't afford too. He did make a call to help Rory get in, but there were no payments or anything there. If Rory didn't go to Chilton, her Grandparents would still stopmpaying for Andover, so she would have to go back anyway, only this time it would be Stars Hollow High, with no chances of an Ivy League Collage. If there are any questions about anything in the cahpter, or story, ask me in a review or a PM.**

**Please review! I will be sending excerpts out as usual to anyone who does. Thank you for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: So this is chapter 13 at last. I am sorry for the delay as it has been over a week and I promised it would be a lot sooner than that, but I have been really busy lately and I couldn't get this chapter right. I have re-written parts of it more than once, something I have never done before, and I still don't think that it's perfect. I hope you like it all the same. It is my longest chapter yet, and I tried to cut it down, but I couldn't find anywhere to delete. I also know that not loads goes on, like in different locations, but i hope it works ok.**

**Thank you for all of the reviews! I got over 50 for the last chapter alone and I couldn't believe the response. Thank you to everyone who did so and added me and the story to their favourites list, I really appreciate it.**

**Also, I meant to write this before the last chapter but I forgot. I am sorry to anyone that didn't want Rory to return to Chilton. I got quite a few reviews after chapter 11 saying that they didn't want her to go back, but others that did. From the beginning I had a very vague plan of the story and I was always going to send her back. Most of the reviews said that they were glad she was back after the last chapter, but I'm sorry to anyone that didn't. It's just the way the story worked out.**

**Anyway, this is chapter 13, a very long one. It will skip between Rory and Tristan's POV's in some places, but i think it is clear enough. I hope you like it.**

_Recap:_

"_Guys!" Madeline said, "There is something else! There's another new student. Rory Gilmore."_

_They all froze and Tristan blinked._

"_What's she doing back?" Austin said shocked._

"_Obviously couldn't hack it at her new school." Paris said, appearing in to the conversation for the first time "I'm not surprised."_

"_Neither am I." Summer said._

"_Wait." Ben said speaking for the first time in a while. I frowned, he seemed kind of pale. "There's something you need to know about Gilmore…"_

_He was interrupted when there was a noise from outside._

Rory POV

_The morning of school_

Rory groaned as she staggered in to the kitchen wearing her dressing gown and pyjamas. The first day of senior year and the last first day of high school, and it was all at Chilton.

"Morning Hun!" Lorelai appeared in the doorway grinning cheerily.

Rory blinked. Since when had her mother been this cheery and awake in a morning? Lorelai had been thrilled to have Rory back home. As much as she understood why she loved it at Andover and needed to get away, having even argued with Emily over it, inside she really wanted Rory to be home with her.

"You seem happy this morning." Rory murmured while resting her head on the kitchen table with a sigh, her eyes drifting closed again.

"I'm just…bright." Lorelai replied, sitting down in the chair opposite Rory.

"Mmhm." Rory replied, drifting off to sleep again.

"Hey, don't go unconscious on me!" Lorelai said, insistently tugging on Rory's arm. "I have coffee!"

"Coffee…" Rory groaned slightly and Lorelai went over to the machine to get the elixir of life for her daughter.

"Here." Lorelai said passing the cup over to her. "So how are you doing" she asked, more serious now as Rory sat up and took a sip of the steaming coffee.

"Okay." Rory said, smiling at her mother, though it was slightly strained.

Lorelai saw through it straight away and placed a hand over her daughters reassuringly. "I'm sorry babe."

Rory shook her head. "It's not your fault, your not the one making me go." They both frowned at the thought of Emily "Besides," Rory continued, clearing her head of any thoughts of her Grandmother "The others will be with me this time, it'll be better."

"Yeah, I'm sure it will." Lorelai smiled again "Hey," she said "Make sure you stick to the exotic Australian. Trust me he's a keeper, I know theses things. If I was in high school I'd marry him myself."

Rory laughed "I'm sure Dad will be delighted at that thought."

"Delighted at what?" A voice from the doorway asked and they both turned to see Chris standing in the doorframe, holding a bag from Luke's.

"That Mom wants to elope with Finn." Rory grinned at her Dad's face.

"I never said that." Lorelai said insistently "I love you. All I said is that if I were his age I would think about dating him. Come on, that accent…"

"Excellent." Chris said rolling his eyes, "You're in love with a teenage guy."

"I get you're point with the teenage part, but the guy? Are you so shocked that I like a guy? In case you didn't notice before, I'm straight."

Chris rolled his eyes again and Rory laughed. She had missed her parents while she was away.

"Anyway," her Dad started again, "I've brought Muffins and pastries from Luke's. I thought you'd want stuff from there on your first day."

"You see, that's why I love you!" Lorelai said cheerily "You see Hun, he may not be Australian, but he's definitely a keeper. Always listen to me on these things; I have a good eye and a sixth sense."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Right, okay then. But I'm not going to date Finn. For one thing he's way too obsessed with redheads, and the fact that some of us are positive that he's going to end up with Colin, even if Colin is in love with Steph. Plus I'm with Logan, you know that."

"Details." Lorelai replied, waving a hand dismissively.

"Colin's in love with Steph?" Chris said looking confused "They're not dating are they?" Her dad had met the group the day before.

"No," Rory smiled at the thought of the bickering pair "Why, got a thing for Steph?"

Her Dad gave her a pointed look and held up his hand to cut Lorelai off before she made a comment.

"I'm going to ignore that." He said and mother and daughter grinned at each other.

"What time is Steph picking you up?" Lorelai said, looking at the clock on the wall "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?"

"In about half an hour, and no, it's fine. It's become kind of a tradition to start the day with Steph."

Lorelai nodded in understanding.

"I better start getting ready though." Rory said, finishing of her coffee and muffin and standing up.

"Alright then, but I'll say bye now because I have to dash in about five minutes." Chris said, standing up.

"Alright, see you later." Rory said smiling.

"Good luck." He replied, giving her a hug "Don't let them get to you."

"I won't, see you later Dad."

"See you later Kiddo."

With that said she turned and headed back in to her room to get ready.

The Chilton uniform was a blast from the past again, and completely different from the sleek and stylish one she wore at Andover. Lorelai had once again adjusted her uniform, the skirt was hemmed to an inch or two higher than it should be, and her blouse was fitted. The blazer had been taken in, like her Andover one, and hung loosely off her shoulders, while giving it a fitted shape. A guy's tie hung loosely around her neck, and a new pair of high heeled jimmy choo's were on her feet, though these were a pretty blue to match her uniform. A couple of silver and blue bracelets decorated her wrists, along with a silver diamante watch that Logan had bought her for Christmas. Her Moms ring was once again on her finger, along with a pretty heart shaped necklace around her neck.

She did her hair so it hung in loose curls ending just below her shoulders, her side fringe wavy and clipped to the side with a pretty silver slide. She has on light make up, enough to look good, but natural at the same time. She had painted her nails a blue colour with Steph the day before.

As she stood looking in the mirror she was happy with her look. It was certainly different than when she had last put that uniform on, but she was comfortable in it. Much more than before. It was more _her_.

There was the sound of a horn honking outside and she assumed that Steph was here. Picking up her book back (her bubbly blonde best friend had convinced her to ditch the old one and get a new over the shoulder one from Louis Vuitton), she hurried out of her room to say goodbye to her Mom.

"See you later babe, have a good day." Lorelai said as she enveloped Rory in a hug "Show them that they can't pick on you anymore."

"I will, see you later mom." Rory said, pulling away from her mother and opening the door.

"Bye babe."

She hurried across the front yard and slid in to Steph's baby blue bmw convertible.

"Ready to go? You look great bye the way." Rory grinned at the blonde and leant back in the seat.

"Thanks, you don't look bad yourself." She replied, and it was true. If anyone could make the Chilton uniform look good it was Stephanie Vanderbilt. "And yeah, I think I'm ready."

"Great." Steph grinned "Let's give those assholes what they deserve." A menacing expression appeared on her face and Rory laughed.

"It's worrying when you pull that expression."

Steph laughed, pulling out of the driveway. "I'm serious."

"Don't start a fight." Rory warned "You're worse than the guys."

"I resent that." Steph said "And I doubt I'll ever be worse than Logan, he's practically fuming."

"Yeah well, don't start anything. I want to handle it myself."

"I know I know." Steph said, pulling out of Stars Hollow "Which way is it again?"

"Left." Rory replied, and the car started moving down the familiar road to Chilton.

* * *

><p>Tristan POV<p>

_Back at Chilton_

"What's going on?" Paris said, frowning at the commotion.

"I don't know." Austin answered, frowning slightly.

The Chilton students that had lined the hallways were all looking out of the open doorway in to the parking lot. As someone moved slightly, Tristan could see a silver Porsche, with a number plate of 'HUNTZ', parked near to the front of the lot and two guys were getting out and heading towards the open doors to the school. One was medium built with light brown hair, and the other was blonde with deep brown eyes, his uniform casual.

"The blonde is Logan Huntzburger." Madeline said suddenly, her voice going slightly excited at the end.

"He's gorgeous." Summer said smiling, her eyes raking over him.

"Like we didn't know that already." Louise said, never taking her eyes off the two guys, who were now coming in through the doors.

"The other guys Colin McCrae. I think I've seen him before briefly at a party." Austin said.

"He's cute too." Madeline said.

Paris rolled her eyes, seeming to be the only one not affected by the two guys. "Yeah yeah," she snapped "They're wonderful. They'll screw with your heads, then you, and move on to the next girl by the next day. Yep, they're perfect."

Louise rolled her eyes. "So what?" she said "With guys like them you expect it and it's always worth it, especially Huntzburger."

"That's sick." Paris stated calmly and Louise shrugged, turning her attention back to Huntzburger and McCrae.

Tristan didn't like this at all. Looking around, he could tell the other guys felt the same. Except maybe Ben, who had a strange expression on his face. Tristan shook his head, that wasn't important right now. All of the girls in the room were watching the famous pair and it wasn't hard to read their expressions. It was always him who was the subject of those stares, and within the space of 60 seconds, that had all changed.

The two of them had stopped by a few lockers down from where they were standing and hadn't glanced once at anyone else.

"We should go and talk to them." Austin said "Introduce ourselves."

Tristan nodded. He was right. They needed to meet the two of them. If they became part of their group it could work to his advantage. "Yeah lets go." He said.

"Let's." Summer added, never taking her eyes of Huntzburger. Anger started inside of Tristan again.

As he and Austin started forward, McCrae spoke for the first time.

"Doesn't look like the girls are here yet." He said, glancing around the hallway, completely ignoring everyone else and turning back to Huntzburger.

"They're going in Steph's car." Huntzburger pointed out "And she may drive like a maniac but she isn't known for being on time."

Tristan frowned then and glanced at the others. They? According to Madeline there was only one girl with them, and he assumed that 'Steph' was Stephanie Vanderbilt. So who was the other girl they were talking about? From the expressions on the others faces, they were confused too.

Tristan and the others were practically right beside them now, but the two guys didn't turn or do anything to acknowledge them.

Summer suddenly moved and placed her hand on Huntzburger's arm. "Hey," she said, smiling to him in a seductive way "You must be the new students; I can show you around if you like."

The two guys finally turned to look at them. Huntzburger's eyes went briefly to the group standing a metre or so away, something flickering within them, and then went to lay on Summer, while McCrea's stayed on them for a while longer, his eyes narrowing slightly, and then he too looked at Summer.

"You are?" Huntzburger asked and Tristan was slightly surprised to see a look of disgust coming over his features as he looked at Summer's hand on his arm.

The whole hallway was watching the exchange now, interested in what was happening between Chilton's most popular group, and Hartford's most popular guys.

"Summer Carter." She said, still smiling and somehow not registering the look Huntzburger was giving her. "I saw that you were new and I thought I could show you around. There are some excellent closets around here, very private." She winked at him suggestively.

Huntzburger's look of disgust deepened and he removed her hand from his arm. "I don't think my girlfriend would like that very much." He said, his voice hard.

Summer blinked and the whole hallway seemed to start in shock. It was true?

"Girlfriend?" Summer said, regaining her voice. Her face was completely shocked as she stared at the blonde in front of her.

"Yes Girlfriend." Huntzburger replied "I'm sure you've heard the word before, even if it has never applied to you." McCrae snickered at the look on Summer's face. He was leaning on the locker next to Huntzburger, watching the scene with a look of amusement.

"Well," she said, trying once again, though you could tell she was finally noticing the look on his face. "I could still show you around. I mean, it's a big school and you need to be able to know where you're going."

"We're used to new schools by now." He replied, a slight smirk coming to his face, and Tristan knew that it was his most famous expression "And besides, if I want one my Girlfriend can always do it."

"But how will she know…" Summer started looking confused when the sound of tyres skidding in the parking lot brought everyone's attention away from the scene and back to outside the doors.

A baby blue bmw convertible had pulled in to a space next to the silver Porsche. By the looks of things from the angle it had been parked at and the noise from a few seconds ago, it had been going too fast.

"Manic." McCrae muttered from beside him "She'll have a crash one of these days."

"You try telling her that." Huntzburger replied smirking.

The driver's door opened and an incredibly pretty blonde girl stepped out. She was quite tall and her slim figure seemed to accentuate that. Her Chilton skirt was short and Tristan could imagine her going to Charleston's office straight after first period for it. Her blue blazer was slung over her arm and her Chilton shirt was fitted, the usual girls tie hanging loosely around her neck. This was accompanied by a pair of what Tristan thought were Prada sandals, also not allowed, and she had a silver tiffanies necklace and bracelet on. Her Long golden hair was loose and curly, with half of it clipped at the back. Judging by the Marc Jacobs handbag she was carrying, and the other obviously designer items, this was Stephanie Vanderbilt. It seemed her reputation was not an exaggeration.

Huntzburger and McCrae both started to walk forward slightly, heading towards the doors again. Stephanie paused by the front of the car and that's when the passenger door was pushed open.

Then they saw her.

As she slid out of the car and closed the door behind her Tristan's breath hitched in his throat. She was stunning. Her Chilton skirt was an inch or two shorter than it should be and her blue high heeled Jimmy Choo's were making her already long legs go on forever. Her shirt and blazer were both fitted, showing off her perfect figure and a guy's tie hung loosely around her neck, showing her own originality. Her wrists were decorated with silver and blue bracelets and an expensive looking silver watch. A silver heart hung around her neck and a Louis Vuitton bag hung over her shoulder. Her Chocolate coloured hair was smooth and shiny and it hung down her back with loose curls at the ends and a sparkly slide pulled her fringe out of the way. Her make up was minimal, showing off her natural beauty and Tristan couldn't take his eyes off her, nobody could. She was truly gorgeous.

As beautiful as she was, she was also familiar. Very familiar. As Tristan studied her, he noticed the familiar baby blue eyes that could stare in to your soul, the glossy brown hair and the long legs that seemed to go on forever. She may have looked very different to the last time they had seen her, but they all knew who she was.

"Mary?" Tristan breathed, not taking his eyes off the stunning girl in the parking lot.

"Gilmore?" Paris' voice was slightly louder than his, but she was just as shocked.

Everyone was staring in utter shock and bewilderment. What was going on? They all had a clear picture of Rory Gilmore in their minds and the girl in front of them was completely different.

9 months ago she had been quiet and shy, her dark hair always pulled sharply back or down and hiding her face. Her uniform was always perfect, her skirt just the right length and her blazer and shirt normal with barely any shape. Her shoes were always flat and plain, and the yellow rucksack filled with books never left her back. She never wore any jewellery, the Chilton dress code forbids it, and there was practically no make up on her face (that hadn't changed too much).

The old Rory was also very nervy and hated attention. This girl had gotten out of the car and met up with Stephanie Vanderbilt while completely ignoring all of the looks and attention she was getting, almost as if she was used to it.

As the two girls started to walk towards the door together people seemed to break out of their trance and the whispers began.

"What," Louise started looking completely bewildered "the hell is going on?"

Madeline shook her head, equally confused. "That can't be Rory Gilmore." She said. "I mean, she looks so _un_ Rory like."

"She looks hot." Austin said, looking Rory up and down appraisingly and Summer scowled.

Tristan clenched his fists. He didn't like people looking at Rory like that, and he knew Austin wasn't the only one. Before Rory left, people had found her attractive, who couldn't, but they saw Tristan had his claim on her and stayed away. But now, with her looking like this, he wasn't sure that would be the same anymore.

"What's she doing with Stephanie Vanderbilt?" Summer said, clearly not liking the attention on the other brunette and blonde.

"They're friends." Ben's voice cut through the air and they all turned to stare at him. Tristan was just about to ask him how he knew and what the hell he meant, when Madeline spoke again.

"Guys!"

Tristan turned to look at her to see that she was back looking at the doors. He too turned to see Rory and Stephanie heading towards Huntzburger and McCrae.

That was when it happened. As Rory met Logan Huntzburger's eyes her face broke out in to a breathtaking smile. Her blue eyes seemed to light up and she looked even more sensational than before.

One thing that no one was expecting however, was what happened after that. As Rory reached the two guys Huntzburger reached out and put his hand on one of her arms and pulled her slightly too him. Tristan's mouth hung open in shock as Rory wrapped her other arm around Logan's neck and placed her lips against his. Logan's arm slid slightly around her waist and the kiss went on for a couple of seconds before they broke away from each other.

Everyone in the hallway was completely silent as all eyes focused in complete shock upon the couple. Tristan watched as Logan smiled slightly at Rory and then slid his arm around her waist, while she turned away from him to talk to Vanderbilt and McCrae.

"Oh my God." Louise breathed "She's the Girlfriend."

The others were silent and her words ran through Tristan's head. Innocent Rory Gilmore, the schools Mary, was dating Logan Huntzburger, the infamous player? How the Hell did that happen?

"She can't be." Summer said snidely, her face showing her jealousy "Why would a guy like Huntzburger go for a girl like her? She's a Mary."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Ben said slowly.

"What the hell do you mean?" Tristan asked him, narrowing his eyes.

"Who cares what he means." Paris said sounding annoyed "What matters is the fact that she's back. But why, I knew she would fail at that school. Now she's back."

"Like we're bothered about why she's back." Louise said waving her hand, "What matters is what she's doing with them, and what she's doing looking like that."

"Weren't they at Andover last?" Madeline said suddenly, looking at Austin. "They could have met there."

"Yeah they were, but why would innocent Mary run in the same circles as them? I mean they party and get in to trouble. Why would they bother with a bookworm anyway?" Louise answered for Austin, but he cut back in.

"Maybe, but if she showed up looking like that, it's not a wonder that she attracted their attention, especially Huntzburger's. How did you know about them anyway." He directed the last question at Ben.

"We met in Italy." He said.

"Italy." Louise said her eyes widening "She was the girl?"

Ben shrugged, looking embarrassed.

"What happened?" Tristan said, wondering what the hell could have gone on.

"Well, she was there, and she looked like she did now, but at a party. So well…I hit on her."

"You what?" Tristan hissed slightly, not happy that his best friends were going after _his_ Mary.

"Look at her man." Ben said, "I didn't think she'd be coming back or that you'd ever see her again so I thought I might as well have a go. But she turned me down! So we argued and then her friends turned up and told me to leave her alone."

"That's not all I heard." Louise said, smirking slightly.

"The other stuffs not important." Ben replied, looking embarrassed for some reason. Tristan didn't push it; he was still annoyed at all the attention she was getting. It wasn't right.

He turned around at the sound of a laugh and saw Rory and the other three heading round the school towards the office, evidently to sign in.

Huntzburger still had his arm around her waist. Tristan shook his head slightly. Why would Logan bother with her? He had to have a motive. He was probably just hanging around waiting to have sex with her before he would leave. Tristan had to laugh at that. He would have a long wait. The girl would always be a Mary; she would never dare do anything else.

That was when Tristan realised that having her back was a good thing. Only this morning he had been thinking that she was missing. Well she wasn't anymore. He would finally get the chance to claim his Mary. He would be able to do what he had been planning all along. That though made him smile.

* * *

><p>Rory POV.<p>

_The same scene_

"Steph slow down!" she yelled as her best friend skidded around a corner.

"You were the one who was moaning about being late." She replied cheerily "Besides, cars like this were made to go fast and speed limits are for boring people. It's been so long since I've been driving, I can only drive in the States because I failed my test for it in England."

"I wonder why." Rory muttered, gripping the handle on the door beside her tightly.

"Oh stop moaning we're here now." Steph said pulling the car in to Chilton and Rory winced as she narrowly missed crashing in to Logan's car.

Glancing up at the tall grey building in front of her, Rory's nerves started up again. The whole place held nothing but bad memories, what the hell was she doing back here?

"Hey," Steph said, noticing her expression "You're gonna be fine, you're stronger now and not alone. It looks like the guys are already here too. Senior year is about having fun."

Rory smiled and shook the memories out of her head. "Yeah you're right. Let's go."

Steph grinned and then slid quickly out of the car, pulling her bag out with her. Taking a deep breath and picturing Logan, who she knew was already in there, she slid out of the car.

The first thing she saw was the Chilton students in the hallways and spilling out the doors. All of there attention was focussed on her and Steph, and Rory knew for sure that somewhere in there would be Paris, Tristan and the others.

But as she met Steph's eyes Rory stopped slightly. That didn't matter. This was no different than being at Andover; people always watched the five of them there. Whenever they were out in Oxford most people knew who they were and tended to try to be around them. She may have had a history with these people but right then she just had to deal with the attention. That was one thing that she had become an expert at. Holding her head high and stepping by Steph, the two of them started to where she could see Colin appear in the doorway.

She was about ten metres away when she saw Logan. It was then when she felt secure and happy. She smiled as she started towards him, glad that he was here before her. He reached out and gently took her arm, pulling her slightly towards him. Happy to be in his arms, she wrapped her other one around his neck as his lips met hers. It lasted a couple of seconds before e pulled away, smiling down at her, his chocolate eyes warm and comforting.

"Hey." He smiled.

"Hey yourself." She replied and then turned back to Colin and Steph as he wrapped an arm around her waist. The whispers started up almost immediately, the whole of Chilton buzzing with the news. Colin raised an eyebrow and Steph grinned.

"Well that's stirred things up." She said, her grin intensifying.

Logan smirked and his arm around her waist tightened.

"Where've you been?" Colin asked "I'm surprised you weren't here before everyone else. I know what you're like when you want to make sure you're ready for a new semester, after all, your schedule changes and your locker might be stuck…" he finished and smirked at her in amusement.

"Hey, don't mock my organisation." She replied and Logan chuckled beside her and she glared at them both. "You can't talk anyway; you hate being late and everything you do have to be planned out months in advance."

Steph snickered at that. "She has a point."

"Humph." Colin replied and they grinned at him.

"So this is Chilton." Steph said glancing around at the grey brick building.

"Mmhm." Rory replied glancing around slightly herself, but being careful not to take notice of anyone else but the four of them.

"I must say the people are like you described." Colin said "A girl was on to Logan practically the second that we walked through the door, I don't think the rest of her group were far behind."

Rory raised her eyebrows. She had a feeling that there would only be one group of people that would say something to Logan and Colin already, especially if they knew their last names, and if Rory knew the gossips of Chilton, they did. "Who was it?" she asked.

"I don't know, I don't listen to their names anymore. It was a season or something."

"Summer." Rory stated calmly.

"Ah, now I see." Steph said. Rory had told her a lot of things about the people at Chilton and Steph knew all about Summer's sluttish ways. "What happened?"

Logan looked slightly affronted at that and Colin rolled his eyes. "He pushed her away of course. You should have seen the look on her face when he told her he had a girlfriend. I think most of the hallway had a heart attack." He snickered again and Logan rolled his eyes.

"It's not that unusual that I have a girlfriend." He protested.

Steph rolled her eyes. "Please Logan. Before Rory you'd screw anything with boobs, moving on to the next girl almost straight after. You were worse than Finn with red heads." She snickered then paused, glancing around again. "Speaking of the drunken Australian, where is Finn?"

"Who knows?" Logan said shrugging "He's at home on his own with out anyone moving around outside his door or any bells waking him up. Knowing him he'll have forgotten to set an alarm clock. I bet we won't see him until the end of second period when he's woken up."

"You haven't called him?" Rory asked, looking between Colin and Logan.

"I'm not his mother." Logan replied shrugging again. "Besides, the chances of Finn answering his phone are slim. You know what he's like in a morning."

"Yeah well, you could have tried." Rory replied glancing at her watch and then saying "We need to go to the office and get schedules, we're gonna be late otherwise."

"What a tragedy that will be," Steph muttered, "The world might end. You're as bad as each other." She said pointedly, looking between her and Colin.

"Hey!" they both said but Rory had to laugh at the expression on Colin's face.

Logan grinned and keeping his arm around her waist, murmured "Lead the way Ace," in to her ear.

* * *

><p>About fifteen minutes later Rory was heading back out of the office and towards her new locker. Charleston had decided that he wanted to speak to them all alone, starting with Rory. He clearly wanted to give everyone a talk on the ethics of the school and what was expected. As she had been first she had decided to go and put her stuff in her locker, knowing that the bell would go any moment and she didn't want to be late for her first class.<p>

Knowing very well that the others wouldn't be too long, especially if they dropped their last names in to the conversation, she headed round the corner to the main hallway.

Somehow through everything however, she had managed to forget the circumstances of her being back, what happened before, and what gossips the people at Chilton could be. Needless to say, the second she rounded the corner, most eyes appeared on her.

Crap, she thought to herself. This wasn't how she planned things to go. With a slight sigh and remembering that she was supposed to be strong, she carried on walking with her head held high and stopped when she got to her locker.

Remembering what happened last time and eager to avoid a repeat of that, she calmly pressed on one side as she twisted the combination, then breathing a sigh of relief as it came open with out difficulty.

Unzipping her bag, she pulled out a couple of books and placed them in the locker, knowing that she would have chance to organise it later on.

"Look whose back." A voice from behind her said and she turned slowly, not wanting to seem spooked, and came face to face with Tristan.

"Tristan." She said coolly, careful not to let any emotion in to her voice. He looked quite surprised at her reaction. He also looked exactly the same as he did before. The same tousled blonde hair, the same rumpled uniform, which was probably supposed to look cool, but in the end looked like he was trying to hard. It was nothing like Logan's easily casual look. The other thing was the cocky smirk that was once again gracing his features, exactly like she remembered it.

"I didn't think you'd be coming back here again." He said "Then again, if you couldn't take it at Andover I suppose you had to. Came home crying to your Grandparents did you?" he smirked and Rory felt anger build up inside of her.

"I think you'll find I was just fine at Andover." She said in a voice that Tristan had never heard her use. It was only ever one that she saved for confrontations with people like Beth. She could see the shock on Tristan's face. "I only came back because my Grandparents made me, not the other way round. I would have been quite happy staying in England and never seeing you again."

"Come on, you know you missed me." He leered at her and she narrowed her eyes and glared back at him. "I must say as well, if I knew you were going to come back looking like that, then I would have been counting down the days until you were back Mare."

Anger sparked inside of her and the overwhelming urge not to let him or anyone else win this time took over her. She stood up taller and used a spoke back, her voice clear, calm and warning.

"In you're dreams Tristan." She said and then caught sight of Ben a metre or so away and the laughed. That shocked them all right. "Didn't he tell you?" she asked, keeping her expression amused and superior to his. Tristan looked confused and she smiled.

Leaning forward so her face and lips were closer to his, she smirked. "I think you'll find I'm not a Mary, not anymore."

The look on his face and on the other peoples scattered about the hallway made her feel triumphant inside. She had shocked them alright

"Now I would stop and chat, but," she shrugged "I don't want to, and I have to get to class. I'll see you later, well, hopefully not." With that she closed her locker and started to head down the hallway.

"Wait! We're not finished!" Tristan spoke and quickly grabbed her arm. Rory tensed and spun back around to face him.

"Get your hands of me." She said her voice smooth and cool, though you could hear the anger in the background. She pulled her arm out of his grasp and glared at him again. This time his cocky smirk was gone and he just looked angry himself.

"What the hell happened to you?" he snapped at her. "You go away to another country and spend some time away and you turn in to what? What happened, you slept with a guy and then once he got what he wanted he left you?"

"No!" she practically snarled at him this time. How dare he say that about her? Like she couldn't do any batter than that. He was looking at her like an object just like before. "I think you'll find I slept with my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Tristan said, ignoring the feeling of jealousy inside of him.

"You don't mean Logan Huntzburger?" A voice said from beside him and Rory glanced by him to see Austin, Tristan's other best friend appear.

Rory merely raised an eyebrow at him and another voice from beside them spoke up.

"Please," she recognised the voice to be Summer's and remembering what Colin had said earlier, took it as a sign of jealousy. "Why would someone like him bother with you?"

Remembering Logan's words to the girl at the party she merely smiled at her. "You'll have to ask him that." She said sweetly "And from what I heard, I wouldn't say anything. It doesn't sound like he's bothered with you.."

Summer flushed at Rory's casual mention of the scene earlier and the fact that Logan or Colin had obviously told her about it.

"You screwed Huntzburger?" was Tristan's incredulous statement. He was angry at that. Why would she bother with Logan and not him? He ignored the jealousy inside of him when he though of what the other blonde had seen with Rory. _His_ Mary.

"Jealous?" Another voice sounded, but it was a voice from behind Rory now and Rory felt relief as she recognised it. She may have been handling it pretty well up until now, but her façade was starting to crack. It was a big relief when Steph came in to view to stand beside her.

Tristan's eyes narrowed and he looked Steph up and down. Most of the guys in the hallway were staring at her and she noticed Austin look up and down the blonde in appreciation.

"Who are you?" Summer asked, though Rory had no doubt that she already knew. Her eyes were narrowed at the obvious competition. It was one thing for Rory to come back looking like she did, but another girl too?

"Stephanie Vanderbilt." Steph said smoothly, though her brown eyes were hard and anyone could see that she wasn't as nice as she was pretending to be.

"So, you know Rory?" Austin said, appearing eager to engage Steph in conversation.

"Yeah, we met last year." Steph said, raising her eyebrows at him "We were roommates at Andover."

"Oh, well that's, um, good. So what, you all got sent here?"

Steph smiled again, though it was sickly sweet. "No, Rory's grandparents wanted her to come back, so we decided to come with her. I didn't want to start a year of school without her, none of us did."

"You changed your school for Rory?" was Louise's incredulous reply; she and Madeline had just appeared. Paris, oddly enough, was no where to be seen.

"Of course." Steph replied, her expression hardening even more as she obviously recognised who Louise was. "She's my best friend."

"Oh." Louise replied. Rory smiled reading the jealousy in her eyes.

"So all of you came back?" That was Madeline.

"Yeah, all five of us." Steph said.

"Huh." Austin said and then glanced at Steph, as if it never occurred to him that Rory had told her about last time, took a step closer to her.

"So, do you want a tour?" he asked smiling at her "We could get lunch if you want."

"I don't think so." Colin's voice suddenly sounded behind them and he appeared next to Steph and seemed angry at the though of him asking her out. Rory smiled, that was sure going to stir things up.

To her surprise though Steph didn't react as expected, she didn't even seem to mind that Colin had spoken for her. She frowned, thinking back to the yacht when Colin and Steph didn't argue that time. She made a mental not to ask Steph what was going on.

Steph and Colin were momentarily distracted by Colin and Tristan took advantage of that.

"I don't know what happened to cause these changes Mare, but I like them." He smirked and Rory looked at him in disgust but found she couldn't say anything, the old conversations coming back to her. He moved his hand to place it on her thigh and she sucked in air in fury. "When Huntzburger leaves you, and trust me he will, I'll be here waiting." The look on his face made Rory shudder. The look in his eye however, scared her a little.

"I don't think that's going to happen." Logan appeared, his hand resting on her waist and Tristan took his hand of Rory immediately. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't hit on my girlfriend."

Tristan stood up straighter and Steph and Colin turned their attention back to them. "Whatever you say." He said, somehow still managing to smirk. "When you're done screwing her I'll be there, that's all I'm saying. I mean who wouldn't want to…"

He never got to finish her sentence because Logan's fist connected with his jaw and he staggered back.

"Don't talk about her like that. You are nothing compared to her, your not worth the ground she walks on." His voice was full of anger "I told you're buddy and I'll tell you." He gestured to Ben who was standing nervously in the background. "Stay away from her, she's not going to take you're shit anymore."

Rory grabbed Logan's arm before he did anything else. "Leave it." She murmured to him. He paused, still glaring at Tristan.

"But I agree." She looked back at Bible Boy "Leave me alone Tristan. I would rather never have to see you again, but that's obviously not the case. People may love you around here, but not outside these walls where it matters, ask Ben if you don't believe me. Stay away from me and my friends."

The speech felt good, and she was glad to see a flicker of fear in his eyes. That was more like it.

Reaching down to take Logan's hand, she looked around at the rest of the group in front of her. The people that made her life a misery. "I mean that to all of you." She snapped, glaring at them. With that she turned away, and the four of them made there way to class.

* * *

><p>Tristan POV<p>

Tristan watched as they walked off down the corridor. Everyone in the hallway was watching the confrontation, but not all of them looked upset. Some of them even looked amused. Maybe they never really liked what some of them did to Rory and were glad that happened. He realised that he couldn't win just yet. He may have ruled the school, but that group ran everywhere else.

He remembered Austin's words earlier about the hot new girl in the group. He remembered his statements about how she could handle herself. What happened just then clearly proved that. Rory was most definitely a part of their group.

That group held the power for the people their age. He knew that they got invited to all of the parties, they had all the right friends, and everyone wanted to be them. Tristan knew that if he carried on being the way he was to Rory, they would ruin him. They had more than enough power to destroy his life now, and wherever he went to college. They were bound to have enough friends around the world.

As he headed in to class he noticed that the four of them had the same homeroom. They were sat off to onside of the room, by the window. Rory was sat down and he could see her thigh from where her skirt had ridden up. He shook his head clearing his thoughts and sat down in the back corner with the others, apart from Paris who was still no where to be seen.

When the bell rang and Mr. Medina walked into the room he took the roll, and welcomed Rory back with a smile, to which she returned. He introduced the others, having no idea they had already met, and went on to teach the class.

He had been talking all of five minutes when the door was flung open and a tall dark haired guy burst in. The whole class blinked, clearly shocked by his sudden appearance.

He ignored Mr. Medina completely and looked straight at Rory and the others.

"Did no one," he paused, giving them a slight glare and Tristan noticed that he had a strong Australian accent "think to call and wake me up this morning?"

The four of them just looked back amused, not looking the least bit surprised at his early arrival.

The guy sighed dramatically, simply waved casually at Mr. Medina, and sat down in the chair behind the others.

"And it's too bright in here." He added, pulling a pair of ray bands over his eyes "I don't know why schools insist on starting at this ungodly hour."

Tristan remembered what Louise said about the group and remembered the other name. That was Finn Morgan.

**A/N: Okay, so that's the end of number 13.I hoped you liked it and please review to let me no what you think, and any ideas that you might have for the future. I will send an excerpt as usual to anyone that does, but it might be a day or two before I send it as I haven't actually written any of the next chapter yet. It won't be any longer than that though.**

**Also, I am going to introduce the elder Huntzburger's at some point. I don't really know what to do with them. Whether to make them like Rory as she is sort of a part of society, or not like her they did in the show. Or should Shira and Mitchum's opinions be different. I don't know so let me know what you think.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Okay, so this is chapter 14. Sorry for the quite delay, but its another long one so I hope that makes up for it. Thank you for all the reviews and favourites since the last chapter, I really appreciate it.**

**This chapter will be all in Rory's POV again. I hope you like it.**

_Recap:_

_The guy sighed dramatically, simply waved casually at Mr. Medina, and sat down in the chair behind the others._

"_And it's too bright in here." He added, pulling a pair of ray bands over his eyes "I don't know why schools insist on starting at this ungodly hour."_

_Tristan remembered what Louise said about the group and remembered the other name. That was Finn Morgan._

Rory POV

The rest of the period passed pretty much uneventfully. Mr. Medina went through the book list for the semester and what they would be studying. Rory was happy sat by the window beside Steph, with Colin and Logan in front, and Finn sprawled out behind.

She could feel different sets of eyes on her throughout the class. She knew that Tristan didn't take his eyes of her for most of the period, Louise and Madeline were whispering in the back of the room, and Austin was mostly staring at Steph, who was blatantly ignoring him. The only difference was Ben, who still had his eyes on the front of the room. The scene in Italy must have affected him more than she originally thought.

It was about forty five minutes in to the lesson when the door opened and Paris walked in. She handed a note to Mr. Medina and sat down at her desk in the front row. That was before glancing at Rory with a scowl on her face. She seemed to be in a worse mood than normal.

The rest of the time passed and they all stood up when the bell went. Rory and Steph stood and walked over to the doors to wait for the guys; Finn seemed to have broken his ever present sunglasses and was having a hissy fit.

They were waiting outside the room when Paris appeared. Steph blinked slightly at the abruptness of the girl in front of her, but seemed to recognise who the angry blonde was and the shocked look slid off her face.

"This is ridiculous!" Paris seethed and Rory frowned, what the hell was she going on about?

"Paris." She said slowly.

"Gilmore." the other girl replied in the same tone "I saw that you were back."

Rory nodded; slightly surprised that Paris seemed to be going for small talk rather that attack mode.

"Well good for you." Paris snapped "I'm very glad that you have had a good time at the other school, and met some nice rich friends."

Steph blinked again. "You really weren't kidding." She muttered and Rory shook her head.

"What do you want Paris?" Rory said tiredly.

"I want to know how you did it."

"Did what?" Rory asked sounding irritated.

"How you cheated." Paris replied glaring at her even more, her face hard.

"Cheated! What are you talking about?" Rory asked confused.

"Your grades!" Paris hissed "I just went to Charleston's office to talk about the new renovation of the library and what I think would be more efficient than that, and when he was out of the room to confirm something I asked the office aid to get your file."

"You stole my school file." Rory said and Steph looked completely bewildered now, clearly having underestimated what Paris could do.

"Borrowed." Paris corrected "Yes, so like I said, I want to know how you did it. I mean, your grades are still perfect and everything, but your record isn't as model student like as it used to be. It says that you got busted for pulling a few pranks at that school and a party you were at was raided."

Rory frowned as she remembered what Paris was talking about. It was near bonfire night and a couple of guys were holding a party. The problem was, due to the English weather, it was raining. So, in a drunken haze, it was someone's clever idea to set the fireworks off in the conservatory with the doors open. Needless to say it went very wrong. They shot through the side of the glass, smashing most of it, and in to next doors garden, and on to their decking, causing a minor fire. The police were called and the party was broken up.

"What does that have to do with anything?" she snapped getting extremely irritated now.

"Well, I've heard the rumours about that school and your file crosschecks with that. Judging by those rumours, you went out quite a lot as I checked the pictures on the school forum that different students set up and there are lots of pictures of you at parties' etcetera, etcetera. That means that you were out a lot, so how do you manage to get good grades? The answer, you can't. So, like I said, how did you cheat?"

"I didn't cheat!" Rory cried "You might be interested to know that I didn't go out or anything during exam periods, or that I always left time for studying. Did my file that you stole say that?"

"Borrowed!"

"I don't care Paris! I didn't cheat and I worked really hard to get those grades. Just because you don't have a life and spend every waking hour studying because you have nothing better to do, that's not my problem. Now, if you could leave me alone, I don't want to be late for second period."

"You don't know anything!" Paris said though there was a slight shakiness to her voice, evidently Rory's words struck a nerve. She felt kind of guilty for a second, remembering Paris's infatuation with Tristan and the fact that she had trouble socialising. Then everything Paris did to her before flashed through her head and she shook the guilt away. The other girl had done far worse to her.

"Okay Paris, whatever you say. Just get off my back this time around; I'm not going to put up with you this year. I'm was done dealing with bitchy girls like you a long time ago, and believe me I've had a lot of practice in dealing with them." Her mind drifted to Beth for a second, she was never going to see her ever again. "That goes for you, Madeline and Louise, and anyone else. I said it before and I'll say it again, stay the hell away from me."

Paris looked flabbergasted for a second. She was clearly surprised to see the girl she used to pick on and try to ruin was standing up for herself and completely serious about everything she was saying.

The argument might have gone on when Finn appeared from the classroom, a pout on his face.

"They won't fix!" He exclaimed to Rory and Steph, holding up his broken sunglasses. "The wont fix and _he_," he pointed at Colin at this point "Won't let me go by a new pair because apparently I can't be trusted in my _newly emotional state_ and might cause a disaster in the mall."

Steph snickered and pursed her lips, staring at Finn in amusement. Paris meanwhile was staring at Finn as if he had just escaped the lunatic asylum.

"You'll let me go wont you love?" Finn said, looking at Rory and batting his eyelashes "You know the importance and that I am always careful in shopping centres."

"Right, so what was that time in London about?" Colin asked pointedly and Rory smiled, remembering the incident where Finn had ended up running through the mall shirtless while being chased by security. It had taken the other four ages to talk the manager out of pressing charges for the incident that she wasn't going to go in to details about. It was cringe worthy to say the least.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Finn said, somehow managing to look dignified while saying it "Are you sure that was me?"

"Yes, you tried to chase a red head at the same time." Colin replied calmly.

Finn scowled and turned back to Rory hopefully. She shook her head. "Sorry Finn, I have to agree, it's too much of a risk."

"Why do you all hate me?" he exclaimed dramatically and stormed off in the other direction, making a couple jump away from each other as he barged through the middle of them.

Logan rolled his eyes. "I swear he gets worse."

"Don't fight children." Step said cheerily "We're all a happy family."

Logan shot Steph a hypocritical look and then rolled his eyes turning to Rory. "Where's your next class?" he asked her.

"Trig with Miss Spencer." Rory said and Steph rolled her eyes.

"Looks like you and Colin are together there again." She said "I'll see you later. Come on Logie, we've got a class to disrupt."

Logan rolled his eyes himself and then turned back to Rory. "I'll see you later Ace."

She nodded and he placed a kiss on her lips before nodding at Colin and heading down the corridor with Steph.

"Ready to go…" Colin started then looked at Paris, as if realising for the first time she was there. "Who are you?"

"Oh," Rory said quickly, not giving Paris a chance to start another fight "Colin this is Paris Geller, Paris this is Colin McCrae."

Colin nodded at Paris clearly recognising the name. Paris scowled back.

"It's a pleasure." She snapped. "Now I have to be going myself. I guess we're in second together. Such fun." With that she turned and flounced away in the direction of the trig room.

"You weren't exaggerating." He stated.

"Paris needs no exaggeration."

"Hmm." Colin replied "You think she'll stay out of your way?"

"For now." She replied, knowing that Paris didn't like to be beaten in an argument and wouldn't start another for some time after that. "You ready for another year of Trig. Let's hope it won't be as bad as with Mrs Adams."

"Nothing could be as bad as Mrs Adams." Colin stated dryly and Rory laughed, the two of them heading down the corridor.

* * *

><p>It was now lunch time and they were all sat in the cafeteria eating. Well, Rory was eating, Finn was drinking out of a flask due to the lack of sunglasses, Logan was playing with Rory's hair while shooting ominous looks at Tristan, Steph was moaning about getting sent to the office about her shoes and skirt while Colin stared at her.<p>

All in all, the average lunch time.

That was until Summer walked up, her expression determined.

"Umm, excuse me." She said, focusing her gaze on Rory and Steph while glaring at them. "You're sitting at our table."

Rory frowned and glanced around to see Tristan, Ben, Austin, Louise and a couple of other people Rory couldn't remember the names of watching, clearly ready to stand up when they moved. Then Rory remembered that this was the table they always used to sit at. It was nice and by the window, but not too close to the restrooms or the louder annoying people.

"Excuse me?" Steph asked, her expression incredulous as she looked at Summer.

"This is our table." Summer said, her eyes narrowing at Steph. Steph raised one meticulously shaped eyebrow and looked the image of perfection. Summer looked slightly intimidated and Colin and Logan snickered.

Steph glanced at the other four of them and then looked back to the brunette.

"Not anymore." She said smiling sweetly.

"You can't just sit here and not move! This has been our table since forever and you have no right."

Steph laughed at that. "Well, it looks like things are going to change around here; I think you'll find we have every right." She said calmly. "And stop eyeing up the guys, they're not interested in you and you wouldn't ever be good enough."

Tristan appeared at Summer's side then. "You need to move." He said his gaze directly at Rory.

She shrugged at him, her face a picture of innocence. "I believe they just had this conversation." She said gesturing to Steph and Summer, who were still glaring at each other.

"And I think I told you to stay out of our way." Logan added, glaring at Tristan, Colin nodded.

Tristan opened his mouth to say something when Finn stood up suddenly, making them all jump.

"You're Tristan!" he said, looking at the blue eyed blonde standing in front of him. Tristan only blinked, clearly not used to Finn's sudden moments of drama. "This is Tristan?" he asked then, turning to look at Rory.

She nodded in response and Finn nodded. "I've been wanting to talk to you." He said, turning back to Bible Boy.

"About what?" Tristan asked, trying to sound cocky but was clearly nervous in front of the eccentric Australian.

"Broken noses." Finn stated and Tristan just stared at him. Even Rory was confused then, and she was used to Finn's weird statements.

"What?" Tristan asked, staring at Finn as if he was delusional.

"Broken noses," Finn repeated "You see, I've heard about the way you treated our darling Reporter Girl, and I don't like it. I was brought up never to talk to a lady the way you did, and I don't know who your parents are and I don't care, it shouldn't have happened. Now, I'm sure the reason why you haven't been beaten up by these two," he gestured to Colin and Logan "Or clawed to death by Steph," he grinned at the blonde "Is because Rory stopped them because they might get in to trouble. However at the moment, I don't care about getting in to trouble and I'm not in the best of moods as I lost the love of my life and this school doesn't seem to have any attractive red heads. So revenge seems to look like a good idea right now."

Everyone was staring at Finn. It was one of the longest speeches they had heard him make, and even though there was a slight slur to his voice due to whatever was in the flask, he was serious, or as serious as he could be. Though that was Finn. He was the most immature person in the world, but he was the most loyal friend you could have.

"What does that have to do with a broken nose?" Tristan asked, still slightly dazed by the Australian's words.

"Well you're going to need advice about yours when it breaks."

"My what?"

"Broken nose." Finn said, looking at him like he was an idiot.

"I don't have a broken nose." Tristan replied.

Finn grinned with that punched him in the face. Hard. Tristan collapsed on the floor and put his hand to where blood was dripping down his face.

"You do now." Finn said, smirking in satisfaction when there was a yell from the other side of the room.

"Mr Morgan! My office, now!"

They all turned to see Mrs Blake, the auburn haired vice principle standing in the doorway.

"Finally, an attractive red head!" Finn said, seeming pleased and Colin put his head in his hands.

* * *

><p>"So, I don't think that went too badly." Steph said cheerily.<p>

They were sat in her car and driving back to Stars Hollow and the stereo was blaring out music while Steph was once again breaking the speed limit.

Rory glanced at her companion incredulously. "Not too badly?" she asked "What would you say qualifies as bad then. I mean Finn got sent to the office and was sent home, Tristan is in hospital with a broken nose, you were sent to the office about uniform, both Logan and Finn punched Tristan and we had run ins with just about everyone. What could have been worse?"

"Well, none of _us_ ended up in hospital." Steph said and Rory shook her head.

"Wonderful." She muttered.

They were just pulling in to Stars Hollow now and Rory caught sight of Luke's up the street.

"Hey, do you want to eat with us?" she asked Steph "We were going to meet at Luke's in about 15 minutes so you could join us if you want."

"Are you sure, I mean, you'll have quality time with you're parents."

"Yeah, the more the merrier." Rory said grinning "You can finally meet Luke and taste his food."

"Ooh, burgers." Steph said smiling "I can't wait for an actual meal, all I've had today is Chilton food, and let me tell you, it sucks."

"You should have had breakfast." Rory replied smiling.

"I don't want breakfast at my house. We have this new really creepy cook who has these weird stalker tendencies. She'll give you all these options of food, then you'll say what you want, she'll disagree and cook you something that is supposed to be a healthier option, even though it wasn't an option in the first place. Then she watches you eat it, and like literally stares at you, with a spatula in her hand."

"A spatula? Like one of those flat things?"

"Yeah! So she'll stand there with it and watch you, and if you pull the slightest expression that you don't like it, she'll look like she wants to kill you. I'm kind of scared she'll start hitting me with the spatula. So I have decided to stop eating at mine. It's safer for everyone."

"Okay." Rory said slowly, never understanding why people would even have a cook. "So why didn't you grab anything on the way her. You could have stopped at Starbucks."

"I didn't have time at that point." Steph said "Does this traffic light ever change?"

"It's marketed on the oldest person in town. It should be another 30 seconds."

"Wow." Steph said slowly as they both sat there staring at the traffic light that seemed to be permanently on red. "That's very…considerate."

"Mmm" Rory said.

Silence.

"Oh thank God!" Steph said when a green light finally appeared "Can I park here?"

"Yeah," she replied as Steph slid in to the spot directly outside Luke's "Though keep an eye out for Taylor. He thinks cars in front of windows knock points of the towns 'character'." She used air quotes for the last word and Steph shook her head.

"This town is mental."

"Yep."

The two of them slid out of the car and headed in to Luke's. A small group of kids from Star's Hollow High were standing on the corner and looked up as they headed towards the door. Their eyes travelled from the two girls in Chilton uniforms and designer shoes and to Steph's BMW.

They were staring at her in slight surprise, one of them, who Rory remembered was a particularly shallow girl, was glaring at them both. She just shook off the looks and saw Katie, one of the nicer girls that she used to know and smiled at her. She smiled back, albeit nervously- Rory sighed, she knew how the money and the looks could be intimidating.

Nodding at the others and offering them a smaller smile, she and Steph headed in to Luke's.

"Hey Luke." She said as they slid down on to a stool at the counter. He looked up from where he had been arguing with Kirk and smiled at her.

"Hey Rory," he said heading towards them with an order pad "Who's this?"

"This is Stephanie Vanderbilt." Rory said "She's a friend that I met in England, we were dorm mates."

"Pleased to meet you." Steph smiled at the diner owner "I've heard a lot about you and your food, not to mention the coffee."

Luke rolled his eyes. "They'll kill themselves with their diet, but it's good to meet you to. What can I get you?"

"We're waiting on Mom and Dad so I think we'll order when they get here, but a coffee for now please." Rory said and glanced at Steph.

"Umm, just a soda please." Steph said.

Luke nodded and went to go and get their drinks.

"This place is exactly like you described." Steph said and Rory nodded in reply.

"Yeah, it pretty much never changes. Then again, the whole town doesn't either. I like it, its home."

Steph smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I get that."

"So what's happened with you and Colin?" She asked, remembering the lack of arguing between the pair recently.

"What do you mean?" the blonde said, glancing away.

"You know exactly what I mean." Rory replied and Steph sighed, but a small smile was appearing on her face and Rory raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you know that night in Italy when that stuff happened with Ben?" When Rory nodded she continued. "Well, Colin kind of got in to a fight with the guy I was dancing with and Logan had to come and break it up." Rory nodded again, remembering the scene "Well, when it happened, we decided that we needed to talk, I mean, that guy was big."

"Lots of muscle."

"Yeah," Steph nodded "And if Logan hadn't have interrupted; I don't know what would have happened. I know Colin can fight, but not against guys like him. Not many people can. It can't get that far again so we talked. We decided that we were both attracted to each other and that we should go out on a date some time."

"What!" Rory said, jumping up slightly and causing an irritated look from Luke as he put the drinks down "That's great! I can't believe you didn't tell me! You always moan when I don't tell you stuff."

"I know, I'm sorry, it just seemed too good to be true if you know what I mean. But its not that bigger deal, we're just going to keep it casual, string less."

Rory raised her eyebrows, remembering when she and Logan had tried that. It lasted less than a day. What with all of the guys at Chilton drooling over Steph, this probably wouldn't last long either. One thing was for sure, it was going to cause a jealous fight between the two of them. A big one. She could only hope that she would be no where near it when it happened.

"Mini Me!" An exclamation came from the door and they both turned to see Lorelai walking in, Chris not far behind.

"Mom!" Rory said grinning and standing up to hug her parents.

"So how did it go Babe?" Lorelai asked as she looked Rory up and down "I don't see any battle wounds."

"You should not sound so disappointed." Chris muttered and Steph laughed.

"Whatever." Lorelai said and turned back to Rory, "So, how did it go?"

"Not terribly." Rory said slowly.

"But…"

"Well, Tristan and co was on me the second I was alone, but that wasn't too bad, I mean I managed to hold the fought until Steph arrived. Then Logan punched Tristan…"

"Good." Chris said "I knew I liked him." Lorelai smirked.

"Dramatic." She said approvingly "Continue."

"Well, I told him to leave me alone and we got to class, which Finn walked in late for I might add. Then outside Paris pounced and accused me of cheating."

"What?"

"Apparently I don't have time to study anymore as I party too much." Lorelai rolled her eyes "So I managed to prove her wrong and it went smoothly after that, until dinner. Then Summer appeared and told us we were sitting at her table."

"Bitch." Steph muttered.

"So anyway, that was under control until Finn met Tristan and decided to cause a fight. He was moody anyway because he broke his sunglasses."

"Poor Guy." Lorelai said and she rolled her eyes.

"He broke Tristan's nose. So now Tristan's in hospital, Finns on his last warning after that and trying to flirt with the vice principle, Steph has been given a uniform warning, and two people have punched Tristan. Then of course, there's Paris to look out for."

"Well, it could have been worse." Lorelai offered.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Rory asked incredulously when her phone began to ring.

She pulled it out of her blazer and glanced at the id.

"It's Grandma."

"Don't answer it!" Lorelai said dramatically, holding her hands in the air, her brown hair flying over her shoulder at the fast movement.

"I have to; she'll only keep calling if I don't."

"You're my daughter; I've trained you against that!"

"I'll be five minutes." She said standing up and heading outside so Luke wouldn't say anything. He was getting worse about the no cell phone rule.

"Traitor!" was the last thing she heard before the door closed. Rolling her eyes she flipped the phone open.

"Hello Grandma." She started, trying to use the best language to get her Grandmothers approval, the last thing she needed today was another rant about etiquette.

"Rory darling, how are you?" Emily asked.

"I'm fine Grandma, how are you?"

"Good Rory, good. How was your first day of senior year?"

"It was fine." She replied, leaving out the details she had told her Mom.

"Well good, I'm glad."

"Yeah, me to."

"So you don't have anything else to tell me?" Emily asked and Rory frowned. What was she up to?

"No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Hmm, well, I've just arrived home from a meeting at the DAR, and Sarah Lynn has told us all some very interesting news."

"Right." Rory said frowning slightly. This wasn't good and she had a horrible feeling what the news was.

"Well apparently her daughter came home today with a very interesting piece of information about you. Do you know Madeline Lynn? Well you must since she mentioned you and you go to Chilton together."

"Umm, yeah we've met." Rory said cautiously, clearly Madeline was as big a gossip at home as she was at school.

"Well according to her, you have a boyfriend." Emily's tone turned accusing and Rory groaned inwardly. Great, looks like society would definitely be finding out now. "Is it true?"

"Well…"

"Look, is it true or isn't it? It's a simple enough question Rory. You are so like your mother in your ability to try and avoid questions."

"Yes it is true Grandma."

"Well, who is it? I can't believe you didn't tell me. Sarah says that Madeline didn't mention his name but she says that he and a few others have joined Chilton, and were with you at Andover."

"Yeah that's right." Rory replied slowly.

"Well who is it?" Emily asked, clearly very impatient now. "Your mother didn't have the decency to mention who your friends were there. Is he some delinquent you met, is that why you didn't tell me? Who is it?"

"Umm," Rory paused slightly and sighed "Logan Huntzburger."

"What?"

"Logan Huntzburger." Rory repeated and the other end was silent. "Grandma? Are you there?"

"Yes I'm here." Emily's voice sounded down the phone a second later. "You are dating Logan Huntzburger?" she confirmed.

"Yes, I am."

"You met him at Andover?" Emily asked then and Rory could practically hear the wheels turning in her head as she put the different pieces of information together.

"Yeah."

"Well, this is wonderful!" Emily exclaimed and Rory sighed again. "I never knew that you two met, I remember that Shira said that he was going to Boarding school in England but I never put two and two together until now. Just wait until I tell your Grandfather!"

"I'm glad you're pleased." Rory mumbled.

"Of course we are pleased. Wait a minute; did you go away with him over the summer?" Emily's voice was sharper now.

"Umm, yeah," Rory started slowly "It was his yacht we used."

"You used the Huntzburger's yacht!" her Grandmother nearly shrieked "How could you not tell us until now. You went away with him and used his yacht and we didn't even thank the Huntzburger's properly! We will have to have them over for dinner immediately."

"Grandma, its fine, Logan knows that I'm grateful and everything. None of the others met his parents. Honestly, its fine."

"Of course it's not fine!" Emily said sharply "It is simple politeness Rory. Just because those other people didn't thank them properly does not mean we won't. Who were they anyway? Some random people you picked up along the way?"

"No, they weren't." Rory sighed "We all went to school and went away together. They knew Logan before I did."

"Well who are they?"

Rory grimaced, only imagining what the reaction would be to this. "Stephanie Vanderbilt, Colin McCrae and Finn Morgan."

There was another slight pause. "They are you're friends?" Her Grandmother asked sounding shocked.

"Yeah," Rory said.

"Why did you never mention this before?"

"I didn't know it was so important." Rory said frowning.

"Of course you're friends are important!" her Grandma said sounding incredulous and she rolled her eyes, there had never been any interest in her friends before, but clearly now that they had important last names and trust funds it was suddenly crucial information.

"Right, okay." She said tiredly, wondering how long it would take to get her Grandma off the phone.

"Well, it's good that you have found some good people to socialize with. I know all there families and they are very good people. Maybe going to that school for a while was a good thing after all." Emily paused and Rory could practically hear the wheels turning in her head. "Well, I have an excellent idea!" she said and Rory repressed a sigh, this could not be good. "How about instead of Friday night dinner this week we have a little party. We can invite the Huntzburger's, the McCrae's, the Morgan's and the Vanderbilt's, as well as a few other people from Hartford and the DAR. Now we all know each other it will go well, and I can introduce you to new people. This is an excellent time. Of course, you and Logan can come together as a couple and all of you're other friends can come too."

"Umm, Grandma…" Rory started feeling alarmed; they were not ready for this. The last thing she wanted was the whole of society watching and gossiping about her relationship with Logan.

"So it's settled." Emily said, effectively cutting her off. "You tell you're mother too, and she can bring you're father. This will be a good gathering. I will see you Friday Rory; have a good week at school."

"Umm…" she started but her Grandmother had already hung up.

"Oh, no." she muttered to herself. This was so not good.

With a sigh she turned to go back in to Luke's, seeing the kids from Stars Hollow High still standing on the corner, clearly having heard her conversation. Not in the mood for anymore drama she hurried in to the diner, avoiding eye contact with them.

Her Mom, Dad and Steph were still sat at the counter. Steph was telling her Dad about the time she and the others got kicked out of Zugerburg boarding school. Chris seemed fascinated and impressed by it and Lorelai was looking incredulous at him, though Rory could see the amusement in her face. They all looked up when she slid on to a stool.

"What did she want?" Lorelai asked and seeing the look on her face held up her hands again. "I told you not to answer your phone!" she said determinedly "I know that look. You've been Gilmored!"

Rory sighed and grabbed the cup of coffee that she'd left behind and finished the last millimetre in the cup.

"Luke! We need coffee now!" Lorelai yelled and then turned back to her daughter. "Spill."

* * *

><p>Half an hour later she was still sat in Luke's, only this time her parents had headed out to go and see a show in Hartford and Steph was on the phone to her parents about spending the night in Stars Hollow.<p>

The door opened and she looked up, expecting to see Steph, but Lane hurried in.

"Rory!" Lane said, looking relieved, "You're here! I've been to your house and everything looking for you. I have to talk to you."

"What's up?" she asked, smiling at the other girl. She had to take her mind off the conversation with her Grandmother and Lane was a welcome distraction. She had missed her while she was at Andover.

"My Mom, what else?" Lane said tiredly as she slid in to a stool next to Rory. "She wants to go to this Bible thing tomorrow night and the night will probably end with me getting set up with future Korean lawyers, doctors, accountants and whoever else my mother can find. I can't go to that thing, it would mean every night next week I would be out every night next week and I would have no time to go and play the drums at the music store. I need your help! Do you think I could stay with you tomorrow night and you maybe get Lorelai to tell her that we are going to some sort of study thing that is crucial to my passing high school?"

"Wow." Rory said, "I don't know, I would but I'm sure I was supposed to be doing something tomorrow night, I think."

"Oh, so I can't stay?"

Rory frowned. She hadn't been around for her best friend for the last 9 months; she needed to make it up some how.

"No," she said quickly "It's fine, honestly. Whatever it was it doesn't matter."

"Are you sure?" Lane asked.

"Yeah, its fine."

"What's fine?" a voice asked from behind them and they both turned to see Steph standing behind them.

"Oh, hey Steph." Rory said smiling at the blonde. "You've not met Lane have you?"

"Err… No, Hi." Steph smiled turning to Lane "I've heard a lot about you though. I'm Stephanie Vanderbilt."

"Yeah, Rory's mentioned you too. Lane Kim." She smiled back at the other girl as Steph slid on to a stool.

"So, what's going on?" she asked.

"Oh, Lane had a bit of trouble with her Mom, I've told you about Mrs Kim right?" when the blonde nodded she continued. "Well, there's this Bible thing tomorrow night that she wants me to get her out of and she asked if she could stay with me. I said she could and everything, though do you know what we were supposed to be doing tomorrow night?"

"Umm, what's the date?" Steph asked.

"Err…the 6th." Rory replied.

"Oh yeah, it's the annual back to school bash up near Yale. People from the surrounding collages and schools go, kind of like the first one you went to at Andover last year. We talked about it remember, after James Michaels mentioned it over that email?"

Now she remembered. They had been planning on attending anyway, the whole party would most likely have everyone they knew there and any others they wanted to get acquainted with. Plus it was a party. Then James had emailed all of them. He had been a senior at Andover a year before they she had joined and he visited quite regularly. She had gotten to know him quite well. He was starting his second year at Yale and he had asked them to come up and meet him at the party. Rory frowned; she'd been kind of looking forward to seeing him. Still, Lane was more important.

"Oh, yeah right." She said "I guess I'll have to give it a miss this time. He'll be at other parties."

"Yeah," Steph nodded "This is more important. I'll miss you though." Rory smiled when Lane spoke again.

"You're missing a party?" she asked.

"Yeah, but its fine." Rory said quickly "I don't mind."

"I can't believe you're going to a party. I mean, I get that you've changed, but this is great! I can't believe your going to one at college! Wow! I can't stop you from going, you go and I can stay at yours on my own until you get in, its fine."

"Lane, I'm not leaving you!"

"I insist, honestly!"

Rory looked guilty, evidently torn when Steph spoke.

"You could come with us." She said. The two girls stared at her for a second.

"Really!" Lane asked, looking excited "You'll let me go?"

"Yeah of course, you'll be fine if you're with us. Is that okay Ror?" she looked over, clearly panicking that Rory didn't want her friend to go.

"No it's a good idea!" she said quickly "Will you be okay with that?" she asked Lane.

"Are you kidding?" This is great! A college party! I can't wait." She grinned and the other two girls smiled too.

"So it's settled?" Steph asked and Rory nodded.

"Yeah."

"I can't wait!" Lane said grinning "What shall I wear? I have to go and make up a story to tell my Mom. I'll see you later!" With that she just about ran out of the diner; a grin lighting up her face.

"Well, she seemed happy." Steph said smiling.

"Yeah," Rory replied, pleased that her two best friends were getting along. "I'm really looking forward to it now; it'll be nice to see everyone again." Steph nodded in agreement. The party would be full of people that hung out and went to the schools in Oxford, and all of the people they had met at other parties too. It would be a good night, something fun before Friday. She sighed. She still needed to call Logan about her Grandma's phone call.

* * *

><p>"Hello?" was the answer from the other end of the line and Rory smiled, despite the reason for her call. Even though they had been at school together all day, they hadn't seen a great deal of each other and she missed him.<p>

"Hey, it's me." She replied.

"Hey, Ace." He said and she relaxed at the nickname and the easy tone of his voice "How's it going? I take it you got home in one piece despite Steph's driving."

"Don't remind me!" she replied shuddering slightly "I don't know how she passed her test."

"She didn't in England." Logan pointed out "And I'm pretty sure she only just managed it here when we were home on vacation. They still don't let her over there."

"I don't blame them." Rory muttered "The English instructors must have way more sense than we do."

"Probably." Logan replied and she could practically see the smirk on his face.

"So how's Finn?" se asked, remembering the last time she had seen the Australian.

"Fine," he said "Colin's babysitting him now. We ended up taking him to the mall to get him a new pair of glasses to stop him winging. He bought two pairs in case of emergency, so he won't be without them again for a while."

"And all is right with the world." Rory said grinning.

"That's easy for you to say." Logan grumbled making her grin even more. "So do you know where Steph is? Colin called around her house to talk to her about something or other on the way back from the mall and the maid said she hadn't come home."

"Yeah, she's here." Rory replied "She was planning on staying the night I think, but I'll talk to her if Colin wants something. Their issues are more important."

"I'm not going to argue there, if them talking stops there bickering then fine. Though they haven't been arguing much lately."

"No they talked I think. It's a long story, I'll tell you when I next see you and Steph isn't in the next room, probably eavesdropping."

Logan laughed. "I wouldn't put it past her, especially if she heard Colin's name mentioned. "Do you want me to pick you up for school tomorrow, if Steph goes over to Colin's?"

"Yeah, if you can." she replied smiling. It was only going to be fifteen minutes, but at least they would have some time alone.

"Sure, I'll pick you up at the same time as Steph did then." He said and Rory agreed.

"There's something else." She said, remembering the actual reason for her ringing. "My Grandma called me earlier."

"What did she want?" Logan asked, though he had a pretty good idea.

"Well, apparently the gossips of Chilton are better than it thought. It took practically two hours for the information to reach the DAR and my Grandmother. They all know we're dating now. I don't think keeping it out of society is going to be an option now."

Logan sighed. "Yeah, I was kind of expecting it, but this is quick, even for them. What else did she say?"

"Apparently it's not socially acceptable to go away with someone without thanking them properly over a dinner. Then when she found out about the others too, she decided that we would have a party on Friday night for all of our parents and the DAR. She of course wants us to go as a couple."

Logan groaned slightly. "Oh God, not a society party already."

"I'm afraid so." Rory replied grimly.

"Oh, well, it'll be alright, we'll all be together. We can form a sub party. The only thing is you'll have to meet my parents."

Rory frowned again. She had heard plenty of Logan's stories about the elder Huntzburger's and she wasn't especially looking forward to meeting them. Pushing that thought aside she carried on.

"I'll manage." She said slowly "We still have the party tomorrow to look forward to."

"Yeah, it'll be a good night." Logan said "You definitely coming?"

"Yeah, though Lane is too. She had an emergency at home and needed to get away from her Mom, so we invited her out."

"Ah, well, the more the better. I want to meet her anyway."

"Yeah, you'll like her." She replied.

"I'm sure. I'll see you tomorrow morning Ace."

"Yeah see you tomorrow." When she hung up she smiled despite herself. Maybe this week wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.

That was, until then next morning at Chilton.

* * *

><p>Logan picked her up right on time and they had made it to school easily and without mental driving. Steph had gone to Colin's and hadn't been heard of since, but Rory was expecting to get the details today.<p>

They were just walking up the steps of the school, Logan's arm was around her waist and she was happy. People were still looking but after yesterday, no one was saying anything. They had all gotten the message that they were both off the market.

Finn was early for once and was standing by Rory's locker. Wandering over to him she was just about to speak when Summer's voice cut through the air.

"I can't wait. I've heard about those parties, they're supposed to be wild."

"I know," Louise replied "Everyone worth knowing is going; it's going to be great."

Rory froze, hoping to God they weren't talking about what she though they were. Te group hadn't noticed them yet, they still had there backs to them, clearly oblivious. Tristan was also there, though there was a bruise on his now fixed nose, evidently Finn's handiwork.

"Are you going Tristan?" Summer asked and he and Austin shared a look.

"Definitely." He said "Its one of the biggest parties of the season, all the people will be going to celebrate the start of a new year. I wouldn't miss it."

Rory couldn't move. Her eyes met Logan's slightly worried ones and she sighed. So much for a relaxing party to get away from it all. The Chilton group were going.

**A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you liked the chapter! Please review! I will send the usual excerpt to anyone who does.**

**The next chapter will show the Huntzburger's and their reactions to Rory, as well as society. Thank you to everyone who gave ideas on their reactions to Rory, it was a big help. The party at Yale will also feature.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Right, first I want to say that I am so, so, so sorry for not updating sooner. I know that it's been almost 2 months since I last posted anything, but I really haven't had time. I've been too busy to write more than a couple of paragraphs each time I sit down, and I had a major case of writers block. **

**I want to thank everyone that took the time to review the story so far, and add it to favourites/alerts. I hope you haven't lost interest after the time. **

**I also know that last time I said that the party at the Gilmore's will be in this chapter, but when I wrote it, it seemed like if I added more on the end. It will definitely be in the next chapter though, I promise.**

**Anyway, this is chapter 15 finally up, and it's a reasonably long one, so I hope that you like it. Enjoy!**

_Recap:_

"_Are you going Tristan?" Summer asked and he and Austin shared a look._

"_Definitely." He said "Its one of the biggest parties of the season, all the people will be going to celebrate the start of a new year. I wouldn't miss it."_

_Rory couldn't move. Her eyes met Logan's slightly worried ones and she sighed, so much for a relaxing party to get away from it all. The Chilton group were going._

"Rory, have you seen my gold shoes?" Steph yelled, appearing in the doorway wearing a bath robe, her blonde hair clipped up on top of her head.

"I don't know" she replied, looking up from where she was putting on her eyeliner in the mirror "Mom likes to hide shoes when she's bored though, so check the fridge and the shower."

"I've just been in the shower and there's no room in the fridge from the takeout we had last night."

"Well check other random places. She got home early today and we weren't in so she had a lot of free time on her own."

"Right, I'll check in the fire place." Steph said and turned back to leave the room.

The blonde had ended up staying with them for another night, as a way of avoiding both the scary cook and any visitors her parents might send.

A second after Steph disappeared, the door opened again and Lane stood in the doorway this time. She was holding up two skirts and a shirt.

"Hey, Lorelai let me in." she said and before Rory had the chance to respond she said "Which skirt will go better with the Yale colour scheme?"

"Umm…" Rory started.

"I mean, this is my first actual party where no one will tell me what to wear. There will be college guys there! Actual, live College guys! I don't want to look like I'm trying to hard, but I don't want to clash with what everyone else is wearing. Oh God…"

"Whoa, calm down!" Rory said, holding up her hands. "It'll be fine. No ones going to bite your head off, it supposed to be fun. Just calm down and enjoy yourself."

"Steph's running around manically looking for shoes!" Lane pointed out.

"That's Steph, she's crazy." Rory stated calmly.

"Oi!" was the response from another room and Rory grinned.

"Okay, I get it, but seriously, which skirt?" she asked holding up a black straight one and a more puffy one.

"The puffy one," Rory said "It's more party like."

"Okay great." Lane said, "I'm gonna go finish getting ready." With that she too turned and left the room.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Lorelai said, appearing in the doorway "You nearly ready?"

"Yeah, hang on." Rory replied, putting on a silver necklace. "What are you doing tonight? Dads out of town, and I know how you get when he's gone."

"Sookie's coming over and we're going to have a girl's night."

Rory nodded; glad that her Mom wouldn't be all alone when they left. "Hey, where did you hide Steph's shoes?" she asked, remembering the blondes frantic movements.

"Which ones?"

"What do you mean which ones? How many did you hide?"

"Not that many, but judging by the belt laid out on the couch I assume she meant the gold ones."

"Yep, they're the ones."

"Well, they're in the shoe cupboard." Lorelai said, grinning at the confused look on Rory's face.

"What shoe cupboard?"

"Your Dad bought us one about a month ago, despite me saying there was no need. He said that once we had one, I would definitely use it. So far, I haven't."

Rory shook her head. "So the shoes are in there?" Lorelai nodded and she called to Steph telling her where they were.

"You look great by the way." Lorelai said, standing up to leave the room as Rory slid on a pair of blue heels.

"Thanks." Rory smiled. She was wearing a blue dress that came up to mid thigh. It was fitted at the top and flowed out slightly at the hips, but not enough to look too fancy. She headed out in to the hall, where Steph, now dressed, and Lane were waiting for her.

The blonde looked amazing, as usual. She was wearing a light pink top that cinched in at the top and then flared out slightly over her waist. It had two gold bows on each strap, which crossed over in at the top. She had paired it with a pair of dark jeans and her gold shoes.

Lane was wearing the black puffy skirt Rory and chosen with a strappy tank top and a black waistcoat with a few diamante studs on it. Her black boots and long necklaces completed the look and she looked gorgeous.

"Ready to go?" Steph asked and Rory nodded.

"Are the guys not here yet?" she said and Steph shook her head.

"No, which is odd considering Colin's time keeping skills. It's probably Finn holding them up."

Rory nodded as the black limo pulled up in front of the house. Frank was driving them all there and back, as they figured by the end of the night they would most likely have lost the ability to drive. Lane stared at it slightly, clearly s kind of shocked at the clear show of money.

"Ooh, going in a limo!" Lorelai cooed "Well, that'll show all the other kids that you mean business."

"I'll see you later Mom." Rory said as she opened the door to leave.

"Bye Hun, be careful and make sure if anyone wants to have a drinking contest, you must never back down! You're a Gilmore, we never lose drinking contests."

"No, we just get up on tables and start singing afterwards."

"Exactly. See you later Babe, Steph, Lane."

"Bye Lorelai." Steph said and Lane grinned nervously. Then the three girls headed back down the steps to where Logan was just getting out of the limo.

Steph smirked at him and then slid in past him and disappeared. Lane looked between them nervously and Rory remembered that Lane hadn't met Logan yet.

"Oh," she said "Lane this is Logan, Logan this is Lane."

"Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you." He said, smiling at her. "I've heard a lot about you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too." Lane replied "And likewise."

Logan smirked at Rory at that and she rolled her eyes. "We'll be a second." She said and Lane nodded, climbing in to the car. When she had disappeared, she turned back to Logan.

"Hey," she said smiling as he wrapped his arms around his waist and placed a kiss on her lips.

"Hey." he said smiling back and looking in to her eyes. "You all ready to go?"

"Yeah, I think so. It'll be good to see everyone again. It's been ages since we all met up and stuff."

Logan nodded. "Plus, it'll be good to let loose after the last two days, too much drama. Nothing says letting go and forgetting like a party."

"You would know." She said smirking at him and the two of them slid in to the limo.

"Hey Rory." Colin said as she came in to view. He was sat on one of the side seats, next to Steph, and Finn was sprawled out across the one opposite, on the phone to a girl that she heard him call Julia. He gave her a wave and a grin and turned his attention back to his conversation.

"Who's Finn's friend?" she murmured to Logan, who had just sat down beside her.

"The red head he met in Spain. Apparently she is at the party tonight and he's tracked her down to try and convince her to meet up with him."

"Boyfriend?"

"She did have but not anymore. I'm sure you can guess what happened there."

Rory rolled her eyes and turned back to Colin and Steph, who seemed to be having what looked like a staring contest, with Lane watching them in amusement; clearly introductions had already been made. Not bothering to ask, she leant back in her seat and Logan wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Yale please Frank." He called out to the driver and the Limo pulled out of the driveway and out of Stars Hollow.

* * *

><p>"Well, well, well, Rory Gilmore as I live and breath! Long time no see." a voice sounded from behind her and Rory turned, smiling when she saw James Michael's standing behind her.<p>

"James!" she said grinning. It had been a long time since she had seen him.

He walked over to her and gave her a hug, kissing her cheek and then pulling away. She had been at the party for about ten minutes. It was a big party and all of the rooms were incredibly crowded. She had lost Colin, Steph and Finn almost straight away and then Lane had gotten asked to dance by a guy that went to another school in the area. Then Logan got a call from Honor and stepped outside, leaving Rory standing by a poker table. She had been with a guy that she saw briefly in Italy, but he had left when he saw his ex girlfriend with another guy.

"You look fantastic by the way." He said grinning and she smiled.

"Thanks, you don't look to bad yourself." She replied "How's Yale?"

"Great, you know; the parties and college girls. What could be better?"

Rory laughed. "Right, so nothing about the great education and professors."

"You know me, I've never been one for spending all day with my nose in a book." He smirked at her and she rolled her eyes. "So how's Chilton? I heard that you were going back there. I must say, I'm kind of surprised, I thought you lot would stay at Andover until the end of senior year, it seemed to be the only school that would put up with the others."

Rory shrugged and smiled. "Schools school." She said, leaving out the parts about Tristan and the others.

"You love school." He pointed out and Rory just smirked.

"Hey Michaels, who's the girl?"

They both turned to see a guy with light brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a blue polo shirt appear beside them.

"Carter, this is Rory Gilmore, a friend that used to go to Andover. Rory, this is Carter Owens, he goes to Yale with me."

"Hi." Rory said, smiling at him.

"So you're the famous Gilmore Girl." Carter said smirking at her "I've heard a lot about you from various people."

"All good I hope." She replied, though blushing slightly at the fact that people had been talking about her. Sure, she knew a lot of people that went to Yale and other ones that hung around in the same circles, but still.

"You could say that." Carter answered "We've heard about a couple of incidents at parties."

"I dread to think." She muttered and the two guys laughed.

"Nothing too bad," Carter said, "Though I did hear about a poker incident in Italy."

"It wasn't that bad!" Rory said indignantly "Logan exaggerates all the time."

"He wasn't the only one we heard about it from." James said, smirking himself "Though speaking of Huntzburger, I heard you and him are exclusive now."

Rory shrugged but couldn't keep the smile off her face and James grinned.

"So it is true." He said "I thought it was a joke at first, or a ploy to get a girl off his back. But then the rumours got bigger and it was pretty much confirmed. I was shocked, but then if anyone could make him do it, it was you. Everyone could see the way you looked at each other, and you could cut the sexual tension with a knife."

"James!" she said, glancing around as both guys laughed again.

"Its true" he said but catching Rory's look held up his hands "Okay, okay, forget I said that, but still. Everyone could see it was inevitable eventually."

"His fan club was certainly disappointed." Rory said dryly "Apparently I cut the line big time."

"Well, I don't think the girls were the only put out ones when you got together." James said "You've got a following of your own missy."

Rory rolled her eyes. "I'm sure." She said and was about to say something else when she felt a pair of arms snake around her waist and she felt herself relaxing in to the familiar embrace.

"Hey Ace." Logan whispered in to her ear and she smiled, though not being able to repress the shiver as she felt his breath on her neck. She knew he saw and could picture the smirk on his face as he looked up towards the other two guys.

"Hey Huntz." James said, smirking slightly at him. "You've met Carter right?"

"Yeah, a few times." Logan replied, looking at Carter "Hey Man."

Carter nodded at him. "Good to see you again." He replied "You're a lucky guy." He said, gesturing to Rory. She blushed and Logan grinned and placed a small kiss on the top of her head.

"Don't I know it." He said, "You think I could steal you away for a dance Ace?" He asked her.

She nodded and smiled back at him. "Sure, I'll see you later guys." She replied and they nodded.

"Definitely." James said and Logan took her hand and pulled her towards the dance floor.

She thought she caught sight of a pair of crystal blue eyes staring at her through the crowd, but she seemed to loose them after a second. Shaking it off and putting it down to the alcohol, she turned back to Logan and met his smiling eyes.

"You okay?" he murmured as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he put his around her waist.

"Yeah, I thought I saw something that's all. It was nothing."

"Are you sure? You looked distracted." He asked.

"Yeah, it's probably just the alcohol." She said smiling, shaking off the feeling that someone, or more than one someone, was watching her.

Logan nodded, though she knew that he knew it was something more. She just didn't know what herself.

"Love the dress." he said smirking, running his hands down her back and making her shiver. His smirk intensified when he felt her reaction.

"Thanks." She murmured "You don't look too bad yourself either Huntzburger."

He smiled. "Glad you think so Ace."

There was a comfortable silence for a minute, both of them just getting lost in the music and each other, when Logan spoke again.

"It's the first time we've been alone together since we got back." He said and she nodded. Even though they weren't really alone now, it was better than what it had been. Since there return, another person had always been with them. It was nice to have him all to herself again.

"I know," Rory said "It's all been so hectic."

"Well what about tomorrow night?" he asked and she looked up to properly meet his eyes.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"We could go out." He said smiling at her "To dinner, a movie, whatever you want."

"Really?" she said. Since they had been dating, they had never gone out on an actual date; it had always been walks on the beach and parties.

"Yeah, I've missed you these past few days." Her smile got wider.

"Yeah I'd like that." She replied.

"Good, so shall we say tomorrow at 7.30?"

"7:30 it is." She said and leaned closer to him. "Thank you." She murmured.

"No problem Ace." He said and leaned forward to kiss her.

* * *

><p>Tristan POV<p>

He was stood by one of the many drinks tables watching the crowd. Or more accurately; watching _her._

He had noticed her practically the second she had walked in. He and the others from Chilton were some of the first there, and they'd been in the party a long time before that group walked in.

They were all there, her crowd from school. McCrae and Vanderbilt had headed off to dance and Morgan had spotted a red head he seemed to know. Tristan also recognised another girl with them, that he remembered seeing at Madeline's party that time. She was her friend from that small town she lived in.

_She_. Rory Gilmore. She had come in with them all, Huntzburger by her side. He had watched as they got drinks together, never seeming to take their hands of one another. He watched as several people greeted them and how most of the people seemed to know and like them.

He watched as Huntzburger got a call from someone and had to leave the party. He watched as she mingled with other people in the room, then as she began to talk to the acclaimed 'king' of Yale, and he seemed more than happy to talk to her.

He watched as another guy joined them and she laughed at what he said. He watched her interact with all the two guys, she looked so at ease. Nothing like the innocent Mary that he knew all those months ago, the awkward shy girl that used to get nervous in every conversation. Those people had changed her.

He watched as Huntzburger came up behind her and the group exchanged words. He watched as the couple headed over too the dance floor, her blue eyes alight as she looked at him. She caught his eye for a second before people stepped in the way. He moved to the side, not wanting her to catch him.

He'd watched them talk and him make her smile even more. She seemed happy, so happy with the rich blonde player who was about a million times worse than he himself, but she had fallen for him.

They had kissed and it made him sick. Huntzburger shouldn't have been with her. She just let him kiss her in public, after all the times she used to look at him in disgust whenever he had a girl at Chilton.

They were now dancing together, closer than ever. She looked stunning in the blue dress that seemed to cling in all the right places at the top, then flowed out at her hips, ending mid thigh. Just short enough to leave things to the imagination. The blue heels on her feet made her legs go on forever and occasionally he got a flash of her thigh and he groaned.

Rory Gilmore was going to be the death of him. After all this time, Tristan Dugrey didn't get the girl, and it killed him. It wasn't that he loved her or anything, but she had always caught his eye. He wanted to be the one who made her less innocent, the one who would break the Mary. She had always been his at Chilton. Now she wasn't, she had screwed Huntzburger instead.

A guy who's reputation was a lot worse than anyone at Chilton's. A guy who was known for breaking girl's hearts. A guy more arrogant and cocky than almost anyone else. A guy that had nailed his Mary.

Jeez. He could hardly believe it when he found out that Rory and Huntzburger had screwed. Now there they were, in plain sight, and Tristan was willing to bet that they didn't care.

Huntzburger's hands were drifting up her back and he was kissing along her jaw line. Rory's eyes drifted shut as his lips moved to her neck to suck on her pulse point. He could see her gasp turn in to a moan from where he was standing across the room.

There was no way that he was going to give up. He would have his Mary, one way or another. A guy like Logan Huntzburger and the other two guys, and a blonde socialite were not going to stop him.

Another drunken guy seemed to bump in to the couple, distracting them from there activities and Rory seemed to realise where she was. Tristan watched as she took Logan's hand and led him over towards the drinks table, the table that he himself was currently standing next too.

Not wanting them to see him yet, he spotted Austin across the other side of the room, on his own, and headed over to him.

* * *

><p>Rory POV<p>

A while later Rory was sat by a poker table watching Logan, Robert and Finn playing with some other guys. Well most of them were playing. Finn was in such a drunk state that he was more or less just yelling out different words and cards.

The good news was that Logan seemed to be winning, and taking Robert everything that he owed him from last year. The other guy had come back from England having decided to miss the first few weeks of school.

Logan placed a hand on her upper thigh and smirked at her. She rolled her eyes, knowing what was probably going through his mind. He had been put out when she had dragged him over to the drinks table earlier and not a random closet where they could get reacquainted. Smirking back at him and remembering the look on his face she stood up and turned to walk over to another group of people, winking as she did so. She made sure to add more of a sway to her hips and grinned as she heard his groan of frustration behind her.

It was then when she felt someone grab her arm and she turned to see Lane standing there.

"Hey," she said, smiling at her friend "How's it going? Enjoying the party?"

Lane nodded and smiled back. "Yeah it's great so far. Three guys have already asked for my number, but I declined the two nicer ones as a worry of what my mother might say to them on the phone. They'd probably be scarred for life. I told the one who suggested that we go back to his place and remove some of our hot clothing. 'We' being me, him, and the blonde hanging off his other arm however, to call tomorrow morning."

"Wow, poor guy." Rory replied smiling.

"I know, he's going to get the good Mrs Kim treatment. I can only imagine what she'll do if he says the same thing to her." Rory laughed "But I can't get over this place." Lane said, I mean, it all seems totally amazing. Everything's just…wow."

"I know, I remember the first party I went to, and it was no where near as big as this one."

Lane nodded and was about to say something else when James appeared with a girl and a guy with him.

"Hey, there you are." He said "I wondered where you went after you disappeared off the dance floor."

"Just to get a drink." She said smiling "Logan's playing poker." She turned her attention to the guy with him. "Jacob right?" she asked.

"Yeah," the guy nodded "Good to see you again Gilmore. This is Juliet." He gestured to the extremely skinny blonde beside him.

"Hey." She smiled at the blonde "And this is my oldest friend Lane. We grew up together."

"Great to meet you." James said "We're all interested in what she was like when she was younger, I'm sure you've got some great stories to tell."

Lane laughed. "Well, there was the time when she found out that a weeping willow was called that and…"

"Okay!" Rory said holding up her hands and glaring at the grinning pair "I think that's enough reminiscing for now, don't you? Haven't you got a girl to go woo?" She looked pointedly at James.

"Trying to get rid of me Gilmore?" he asked and smirked at Rory's glare. "Okay, okay, just this once I'll humour you." With a grin and a wink at Lane he walked away, slinging his arm around a random girl as he did so.

"We'll be going too." Jacob said "Good seeing you Rory…Umm, Lane."

Lane nodded and smiled slightly and Rory said goodbye.

"Wow." Lane muttered "They all know you."

"Well, yeah." Rory said "We met in the past, mostly."

"Maybe, but I mean, they _all_ know you. Everyone has mentioned you and Logan and the others. You're like famous around here."

Rory shrugged uncomfortably. She knew people talked, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

Then another guy came up and smiled at Rory for a second, before his eyes fell on Lane.

"Hey, I was wondering if you would like to dance?" Lane's eyes widened and Rory smiled again. He was evidently politer than the other guys she met.

"Umm…yeah…sure. I'll see you later." She smiled at Rory and took the guys hand.

Rory smiled. It was nice to see Lane having fun, enjoying a party and everything. The whole thing was very different to Stars Hollow and it was good to see her having fun in an environment that Rory herself had gotten to know.

Her phone suddenly began to ring in her purse. Pulling it out and glancing at the ID and she smiled.

She slipped in to a side room that was miraculously empty and slid down on to a couch.

"Hello."

"Hey kiddo." Her Dads voice sounded down the phone line. She smiled. He was away on another business trip and she hadn't spoken to him since he left.

"Hey Dad," She said and sat down on a nearby couch to talk him.

About ten minutes later Rory hung up the phone and slid it back in to her purse. The conversation had been relatively short, just discussing Lorelai, school, and the party on Friday night.

Pulling out her compact mirror and checking her reflection, she was just about to leave when they door opened.

She looked up, expecting to see a couple wanting a free room to make out in.

Its wasn't. She came face to face with the crystal blue eyes and blond hair of Tristan Dugrey.

Taking a step back in slight surprise her expression hardened. What was he doing in here? There was no way that it was a coincidence.

"What do you want?" she snapped, glaring at him with narrowed eyes. He didn't react; he was pretty much expecting that reaction by now.

"Well?" she asked again, getting agitated now.

"Just looking for some peace and quiet." He said innocently, taking a step closer to her. Rory didn't move, not wanting him to get the impression that she was backing away like a deer in the headlights.

"In this exact room? I'm sure." She scowled "Whatever, I can't be bothered to waste my time dealing with you right now"

She stepped to the side to walk past him and join the rest of the party, but he moved too, quickly grabbing her wrist to stop her from leaving.

"Wait!" he said and she glared even more, yanking her arm out of his grasp.

"I'll do what I like." She bit out at him, her blue eyes shining furiously.

"Yeah, I can see that." He stated; his own expression hardening.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, I don't know," he said rolling his eyes "Maybe the fact that you're a completely different person to the one you were when you left."

"So I've changed a bit." She snapped "That much is obvious. I'm happier now than I ever was, and the old me is still inside, but the person I always wanted to be has come out, now that I'm away from you lot."

"Were." He corrected "Because you're back now Mary, and Huntzburger and those new friends of yours aren't going to be around all of the time to protect you from us mean lot at Chilton." His voice changed to sarcastic at the end and renewed anger sparked up inside of her.

"I can take care of myself." She said "And like I said before, drop the nickname, its hardly relevant now." Her eyes were narrowed.

Her shot her a bitter smirk. "Maybe," he snapped "But I don't care how many guys you've screwed around with, you'll always be mine. You were supposed to be back then and you still will. One day Mary."

They had somehow got close together, just hairs breath away. He leant his head closer and Rory came out of her daze as she realized what he was trying to do.

She stepped away from him and lifted her hand, slapping him hard across the cheek.

The force of the blow made Tristan stagger backwards slightly and turning back to look at her, her took in her heavy breathing and wide eyes. His gaze hardened dramatically and he glared at her. Rory was pretty sure she was one of the first girls to slap him when he tried to kiss them, and she smiled inwardly at the thought of him being put in his place.

"How dare you?" she snarled at him, her breathing still heavy "What the Hell were you thinking?"

"What?" he hissed at her "So I'm not allowed to kiss you? Huh, I must be the first person who isn't. All of those guys out there all seem to love you, how did you manage that one? Come on, everyone knows that James Michael's, the king of Yale, doesn't just talk to a girl because they are friends. When did that one happen? You sure work fast."

Rory eyes sparkled with fury. "Don't you dare! I'm with Logan, and I've only been with Logan, not that that's any of your business _at all_." She took a step towards him again "And as a matter of fact, James is just a friend. The only other guy I've dated properly was someone at Andover, and he's hardly going to come here. I didn't sleep with him anyway."

"Right, of course. Well, I'm sure they're only just waiting until Huntzburger dumps you, and he will. He'll get bored eventually, in fact, he's probably with another girl right now, making the most of you being out of the picture."

"I think you'll find he isn't." a voice said from behind him, to see James standing there, with his arm around a tall brunette. They had clearly been looking for an empty room and stumbled across there's. Rory flushed having not noticed them coming in, and she wondered how many other people had opened the door and left after seeing that the room was occupied.

Tristan cleared his throat, clearly slightly uncomfortable at being in front of James; even he knew the power that the other boy held here.

"I don't care who you are." James said "It really doesn't matter to me; you just look like another wannabe around here to cling on to people who can make you more popular." Rory smirked slightly as Tristan flushed. He was used to being popular wherever he went, and he was realising that Yale was not going to be like that. No one cared about him or anyone else from Chilton around here. "But you should know that you don't want to mess with me, or that girl over there, because she has more than enough power to ruin you. Now I suggest you leave, your not welcome around here, and take whoever you came with too."

Tristan flushed again, but he wasn't suicidal, he looked at her again and she glared. Was he really looking to her to get him out of this?

"Leave Tristan." She snapped and he shook his head, turning to leave. James gave him a hard look as he walked past him, and then he turned to Rory.

"Everything alright?" he asked and she nodded. She was alright. Even after everything that Tristan said it didn't bother her anymore, she was more than used to people trying to put her and the others down out of jealousy. Why should Tristan and the others from Chilton be any different? They were all just petty and pathetic. James was right too; as much as she hated to admit it she did have more than enough power to ruin them.

"Yeah," she said smiling at him "You can have your room now. I'm going to find Logan."

"Okay then, I'll see you later." He said "Possibly…" he trailed off, looking at the brunette beside him who giggled. Rory rolled her eyes.

"Enjoy your night." She said sarcastically and he winked.

As she left the room she stopped and flushed, realising that a small crowd was standing outside the doorway, evidently having watched what was going on.

Colin appeared at her elbow. "You saw that?" she asked and he nodded.

"We though it best to leave you alone for a few minutes." He gestured to Steph who was standing next to him.

Rory nodded. "You leaving?" she asked and Colin nodded, his shoulders going a bit stiffer.

"Yeah, well, I thought I should have an early night, and Steph mentioned she was tired so I offered her a ride home in the taxi…"

"Have a good night Colin." She said and he nodded uncomfortably.

Steph winked as her turned away. "Don't wait up!" she called and followed him and Rory rolled her eyes, hoping that everything would work out between them.

Rory smiled as she looked across the dance floor at Lane and the guy that had asked her to dance earlier. They had clearly been dancing since her Dad called, and her other best friend was smiling happily up into his eyes. It was nice to see Lane happy.

Shaking herself out of her daze, she turned and began to scan the crowd for Logan, moving through the sea of people and smiling at those who said hello. She noticed Summer, Louise and Madeline over by one wall, standing alone. As they caught her eye Summer glared, while the other two simply stared. Shaking her head Rory turned back to look in front of her, when she bumped straight in to someone.

Seeing the clear blue eyes for the second time, she sighed, this just wasn't her night.

Tristan stood in front of her with Ben and Austin just behind him, they were clearly about to leave the party.

"I thought you'd be gone." She said, her voice cool.

"I wanted to do something first." He said in the same tone "But don't worry Mary, we'll be out of your precious little party soon enough." There was unmistakable malice in his voice this time.

She rolled her eyes. "Grow up." Starting to move past him he grabbed her arm, again.

"Like I said, there's something I wanted to do before I go."

"Wha…" she started but his lips were on hers before she could finish.

Rory staggered backwards in shock as her mind caught up with what was going on. What the hell was he doing kissing her in public, was he mad? His lips were hard on hers and they moved against her own quickly, trying to get her to respond.

Realising that she had been too busy thinking to push him away, she was just reaching her arms up to shove him when he was suddenly gone.

Blinking Rory suddenly saw Tristan on the floor with Logan standing above him; his brown eyes alight with fury. There was blood running down Tristan's chin and Rory knew that his face was going to be once again black the next day. The one from Finn still hadn't gone down.

"What the bloody hell do you think your doing?" Logan snarled at Tristan.

"What did it look like?" Tristan asked, though he wasn't sounding as cocky as usual. Clearly he had noticed that the crowd that had formed around the pair were on Logan's side. "I wouldn't be so angry Huntzburger; she wasn't exactly pushing me away."

"I was about to." Rory hissed, outraged.

"Right sure you were." Tristan replied "You may as well leave her now, she clearly isn't that bothered."

"You keep telling yourself that." Logan said as Rory just shook her head at him.

"Agreed." Said a voice and Finn appeared beside them, though Rory noted that he had lost his shirt somewhere along the line from when she had last seen him.

Ben shifted uncomfortably at the sight of the Australian and Finn smirked at him.

"Just leave Tristan." Rory said "No one wants you here, just go home."

"What if I don't want to." It was a feeble argument and his eyes were flickering about.

Logan however, already pissed off enough with the other blonde started forward again.

"Leave it!" Rory said, grabbing his arm. "He's not even worth it." Tristan flushed at her words and Logan was still looking doubtful but she kept her grip.

"Come on man, let's just go." Austin said, taking Tristan by the arm. Ben nodded vigorously, clearly desperate to get rid of Finn, who was still staring intently at him.

Still glaring Tristan let himself get pulled out of the party.

"You've got to let me beat him up one of these days." Logan muttered, still staring at the door where the group disappeared.

"Maybe." Rory said quietly, leaning in to him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Humph." Logan muttered but let it drop.

"You don't fancy doing me a favour do you Love?" Finn asked, looking at Rory with a far too innocent expression.

"What have you done?" Rory asked with a sigh and Logan snickered.

"Well, the delightful redhead I was with earlier hasn't come out of the bathroom yet, and she's been in their for far too long."

"I wonder why." Logan muttered.

"I'm not going looking for a red head Finn." Rory said.

"But…" he started to whine.

"No!" she said "If you like her that much I'm sure she'll love it if you go and find her yourself."

Finn paused. "Good idea." He said nodding "You always were the brainy one."

"You do realise that you just sent Finn in to the Girls Bathroom." Logan said amused.

Rory shrugged. "I'm not his mother, he doesn't have to do what I say."

"It's a good job, Finn's mothers scary." Rory laughed and leaned round to kiss him.

"Thank you." She murmured.

"What for?"

"For being there." She said and he grinned.

"Any time Ace." His lips touched hers again and she smiled.

After a couple of minutes she pulled away.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked.

"Is that an invitation?" he said, smirking suggestively.

"With my mother right upstairs? Absolutely." Rory replied rolling her eyes. "I mean its getting late and we've got school, so has Lane."

Logan nodded. "Yeah your right, lets go." He said and slid has arm back around her waist. As if on cue Lane appeared beside of them.

"Hey," she said smiling "Are you okay? I heard what happened with Tristan whatsit."

"Of course you did." Rory muttered exasperatedly. Damn gossips, did they not have anything better to do. "I'm fine. I'll talk to you about it later. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, lets." Lane said "these whole nights been amazing. The best ever."

"I take it you liked the guy?"

"The guy was a hit."

* * *

><p>The next morning Rory was leaving Luke's early to go to Doose's and pick up some new highlighters, as her set seemed to disappear after Finn called round.<p>

When she arrived home the night before she had found Lorelai asleep on the couch, plates form Sookie all around her, clearly having been waiting for Rory to get home. Not having the heart to wake her Mom, she simply placed a blanket over the top of her and went to bed herself.

Lane had been hyper active when they had arrived home. She was sleeping over so not make Mrs Kim suspicious, but when they entered Rory's room she couldn't sit still, talking about the guy she met. His name was Mark and they had exchanged numbers. Lane had reached the analysing faze when the alertness the adrenaline rush had given her had worn off, and she collapsed on to the bed. The aching head the next morning had taken its toll, and Lane had gone off to school in a far grumpier mood than the night before. Rory suspected she would be happy again when Mark called.

Steph also hadn't returned home last night. When the house was empty this morning Rory had just rolled her eyes. She was pleased Steph and Colin were getting better, but she hoped that it wouldn't all back fire and the situation be worse than it was before.

Glancing at her watch she saw that she still had ten minutes until Logan picked her up, which was just enough time to buy what she wanted and walk back to her house to pick up her book bag.

Rounding the corner and pulling a pack of highlighters off a shelf, Rory wandered back to the checkout, and came face to face with someone she hadn't seen in over nine months.

"Dean."

**A/N: Okay, so that's chapter 15 done. I hoped you liked it. **

**Please review, I really enjoy reading the feedback, and I will send the usual excerpts out. I know they were quite late last time, but I will try and get them out quicker. I will also try to update ASAP as well.**

**If anybody has any ideas on what they want to happen next, please message me or write it in a review, because I know where the story will end but I'm kind of stuck for a few parts in between.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Okay, so I've finally updated. Sorry for the delay, again, I know it's been ages and I said I would try to update sooner. Sorry about that. I don't want to go on with excuses, but I haven't really had a lot of rime recently, and when I have, I've ended up have writers block, again. However, thank you to everyone that reviewed to the last chapter, and subscribed/added to favourite list, I really appreciate it. I hope you haven't lost interest in the story because it has been a while. **

**Anyway, this is chapter 16, at last and I hope you like it. The Huntzburger's will finally be introduced in this chapter, and a few people mentioned in reviews that they wanted to see some more alone time with Rory and Logan, so I have tried to add some more in. **

**Also, I'm really sorry about not replying to any reviews or sending excerpts out. I know I said I would, but I don't normally reply to people until I have sent the excerpts out, and for this chapter I only wrote it yesterday and today, so it would be quicker to send the whole thing out, rather than to send individual excerpts out, and then post the chapter. I will talk about the excerpts in the AN at the end, and it is quite important, so please read it if you can. **

**Finally, thank you to 'Harry Snape-Potter' who has added me to their community. Thanks, I really appreciate it XD.**

**Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a good Christmas too.**

_Recap:_

_Glancing at her watch she saw that she still had ten minutes until Logan picked her up, which was just enough time to buy what she wanted and walk back to her house to pick up her book bag._

_Rounding the corner and pulling a pack of highlighters off a shelf, Rory wandered back to the checkout, and came face to face with someone she hadn't seen in over nine months. _

"_Dean."_

"All right Ace?" Logan asked as they sat in his car on the way to school, one of his hands on the steering wheel and the other squeezing hers gently.

"Yeah, just…thinking." She answered slowly, glancing out the window beside her.

He didn't know that just fifteen minutes ago she had encountered her ex boyfriend at the mini mart. He knew about Dean of course, but not all of the details, though she had a feeling Steph may have accidentally spilled a lot of them at some point.

They had just come out of the Stars Hollow and some of the more expensive houses in Hartford were coming in to view. As she stared out of the window, Rory cast her mind back to just a quarter of an hour ago.

_Flashback _

"_Rory." Dean said, looking as surprised to see her as she was to see him. His brown hair had grown since the last time she had seen him, and the ends of his fringe were hanging in his eyes. He was obviously on duty, due to the green apron that he was wearing and the long sweeping brush that was in his hands. "I heard that you were back."_

"_Yeah," she murmured "A week and a half ago."_

_He nodded. "I was in Chicago until school started, so that's why I haven't seen you, you know, because..." He trailed off, shifting uncomfortably. _

"_Yeah." She said, again, feeling the awkward tension in the air. "So...how have you been?" she asked, glancing around uncomfortably._

"_Good, you know." He said nodding, his eyes trailing over her appearance for the third time since he'd seen her. "You look...different."_

"_I've been gone for almost a year." She pointed out "In a completely different country, I had to change some time."_

"_You look good." He said, nodding to himself, and she smiled an awkward thanks._

"_So do you." Rory said, though she wasn't sure if 'good' was the right word. Not with the slightly greasy shine to his hair and too baggy jeans under his uniform. _

_His eyes however, seemed to light up at her words. "Thanks." he said "You know I've missed you these past few months, it's seemed strange without you around."_

_Rory frowned. Before she had left she had been doing her best to avoid him, and he her, they hadn't spoken to each other in weeks before she went to England._

"_So, it was England, right?" he asked her._

"_Yeah," Rory said, smiling again "Oxford." _

"_Wow." He said "Like the University?"_

"_It was nearby."_

_He nodded again, and Rory noticed that his eyes once again trailed over her. Leaning to the side on a set of shelves she cleared her throat uncomfortably. _

"_I just need to get these." She said, holding up the pack of highlighters. "And then I've got school so..."_

"_Right, yeah, of course." Dean said, "You're back at Chilton."_

_She nodded. "Yeah, I am." Rory handed the highlighters over to him and he scanned them in to the till. _

"_I tell you what though, this town's becoming up market over the last few days." Dean said as he put the pens in to a bag. "I saw a blue convertible parked outside Luke's the other day, and a silver Porsche driving around a few times. Then last night there was a limo. I mean a proper black, stretched limo; with a driver and everything."_

"_Fancy that." Rory muttered back, glancing down at the bag he handed to her._

"_Obviously rich people coming to town, desperate to flaunt their wealth at everyone. It makes me sick, those people, I'll bet they're wandering around town like they own the place, with their Daddies doing everything for them. They're all snobby idiots really; I hope they get out of our town soon."_

_She froze. Her hand clasping the bag handles sharply. Dean didn't notice however, and carried on. _

"_I saw a tall blonde in here yesterday, all designer shoes and everything. Paying with an American Express Black card. I'm willing to bet she was the driver of that blue convertible. Judging by her clothes, she likes to waste a lot of money on shopping. Then last night I saw this drunken guy wandering around, I think he was Australian, and then he just passed out on the bench by the gazebo! He didn't even seem bothered, rich people; they think they own the world. Always spending recklessly, and always drunk."_

_Rory's hand clenched on the strap of the bag and it took all her self control not to lash out at Dean._

"_You don't know anything about them." She snapped, glaring at the brown haired guy that she used to know so well. He didn't seem anywhere near as appealing anymore. _

_He blinked at her, looking surprised. "I know their type." He said "And they're all the same, those people."_

"_No they're not!" she said harshly "And anyway, where would you know their 'type' from? The stereotypes? You don't know them Dean, don't pretend you do."_

_She turned away from him, beginning to storm out the store. He caught her arm before she left. _

"_Rory wait!" he said quickly, looking more confused than ever. "Where are you going? I don't understand what's upset you so much?"_

_He still looked confused and she raised an eyebrow at him. She couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out yet. He must have noticed her clothes were different, even in the Chilton uniform; it was obvious some of the stuff was designer. He surely could have figured out that people started showing up what Rory herself returned? Obviously not she thought. _

"_You wouldn't, would you." She snapped. "You've never been observant, unless it's something you can gossip about. But you don't know anything about them, they're 100 times better than you anyway, and they may like to shop and drink, but at least they care about each other and aren't shallow like most of the girls in this town." _

_He stared at her as her words sunk in, though she knew he wouldn't argue with her about some of the girls. _

"_Look, I'm sorry okay. I didn't mean to upset you. I've really missed you these past few months Rory, and..." he paused slightly "I'd really like it if we could try again." _

_She stared at him. "Try again?"_

"_Yeah," he smiled and touched her arm, she flinched and he frowned. "How about tonight?"_

_Rory blinked. "What?" she said "After everything that happened before you think you can just take me back? Well, it may concern you that I'm not available, and after what you've been saying, I never would be to you anyway."_

_Dean stared at her. "What!" he said, clearly starting to get angry now. "What do you 'not available'? And why does it matter to you what I've been saying about a load of rich kids and a dumb blonde Barbie."_

"_Those rich kids and that 'Barbie'" she spat the word at him "Happen to be my best friends! And I think you're clever enough to know what 'unavailable' means. I'll see you around Dean." She snapped, yanking the door open and heading off down the street, leaving Dean gaping after her._

_End of flashback_

So now she was sat in Logan's car on the way to school. She sighed slightly. Sure, Dean was never exactly friendly towards wealthy people, but he had never been put right mean before, or so she had thought.

To top it all off, she had driven past with Logan just as he was heading off to school, so he had seen her in the car holding hands with him. Not that she cared about that, she had no interest in Dean whatsoever anymore, but she knew he would be starting to spread all sorts of lies now.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Logan asked from beside her and she turned back to him, trying to smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied unconvincingly. He raised an eyebrow. "Look, not now okay, I'll tell you tonight," she paused and grinned at him "For our date."

He rolled his eyes. "The things you get me to do Ace." He said, but he was smiling too. "Where do you want to go anyway? Do you want to go to Hartford or stay in Stars Hollow?"

"We could go see a movie in Stars Hollow, but where we eat I don't mind." Logan paused for a minute then smirked, "Leave that to me."

"Wait, you're not going to tell me?"

"Guess you'll just have to wait for tonight to find out."

"Logan!" Rory whined "Come on! You know I hate not knowing!"

He smirked even more. "I'm not going to tell you."

"Please!"

"Nope."

"Please."

"No."

"Please!"

"No, no and no, Ace." He said with another smirk, "You'll find out tonight. I'll pick you up at 7:30 like we arranged."

"But…"

"We're here." He said, effectively cutting her off "And we're going to be late if you don't get a move on."

"You're mean." She muttered, turning her head away as she stood in front of the car.

"Yeah, that's why you want me." He said grinning and she glared at him.

"I'll see you later Ace." He said, quickly kissing her lips and turning away, heading towards the big stone building.

"Cocky Ass." She muttered and hurried after him when she heard the Bell go.

* * *

><p>"Nice of you to join us Miss Gilmore." Mrs Hutchinson said as Rory walked in to the classroom, a few minutes late thanks to being delayed by Finn in the hallway.<p>

"Sorry Miss, I got stuck in traffic." She lied quickly, hurrying to her seat. The teacher nodded unbelievingly but let it slide.

She took her seat which happened to be beside Louise and across the isle form Paris. Both girls shot her glares when she sat down, and Rory rolled her eyes, glancing at Colin who was sat on the other side of the room. He didn't look too good, evidently from too much drink the night before, and he didn't seem to be concentrating on anything, just staring off in to space. She had a feeling it was something to do with Steph.

That was when she noticed the empty seat two rows in front and realised that Tristan wasn't there. She frowned and glanced around, but he definitely wasn't in the room at all. He didn't turn up through the whole period either, so he clearly wasn't late. Rory shook her head, why would it matter to her if he was away. There was just the slight worry in the back of her mind that when Tristan was away, something was up. Something that couldn't end well.

Still, she tried to fight back a smile. If Tristan wasn't here, then there was no one around to annoy her, or try to insist that she liked them today.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the bell go at all, and didn't hear the last part of what the teacher was saying.

"What are you smiling about?" a voice asked from beside her as she started to leave the room. Rory glanced to the side to see Paris glaring at her.

"None of your business Paris." She replied, pointedly ignoring the blonde.

"I don't understand what you're so happy about. You heard what Miss Hutchinson said didn't you?"

"Umm…"

"Wonderful." Paris snapped "My partner doesn't even listen in class."

"Wait, Partner?" Rory asked, now slightly alarmed.

"Yes, partner." Paris replied irritated "For the senior year projects. They involve community service, extra curricular activities and organisations for the school."

"Excellent." Rory muttered, it was just her luck to end up with Paris.

"Now, this isn't a major part of our grades, but it's still marked and it counts on our collage applications. I'm not saying that I like you in anyway or that I'm happy that we are partners, but for this we need to work together and be able to get along for the most part. So for that I propose a truce."

"A Truce?"

"Yes." Paris said "A truce. I'll try and be polite and pleasant to you and you try to do the same with me. We try to put aside out differences and propose a truce, and we get this project done. This way we'll both get the grades we want, and it'll hold us off from us ripping each others throats out all the time. It's a win-win. Agreed?"

"Umm, yeah. Agreed." Rory replied, still slightly dazed from Paris' speech. Still, if they could try and remain civil and work together it would make life easier for everyone.

"Good." Paris said, nodding. "Now I propose a meeting on Saturday to discus the basis of what we're going to do."

"Okay, sound good." Rory replied "Your place?"

"Can't." Paris said, looking away slightly, "My parents aren't really getting along…"

Rory suddenly felt sorry for the other girl then. She remembered hearing whispers around about the fact that her parents may be separating, and it couldn't be nice for her to watch.

"My house then?" Rory asked.

"Okay." Paris said nodding and coming back in to focus "I'll be round at ten o'clock sharp. Give me your address later."

"Fine." Rory said and Paris nodded, turning away and stalking off to go to her next lesson.

"What was that all about?" Colin asked when she met him at the door.

"Paris being Paris." She replied "She wants to form a truce.

"Huh." Colin said, "This is just getting more and more interesting."

* * *

><p>The rest of the day had passed uneventfully as with Paris backing off and Tristan being away, everyone else stayed out of their way. Even Summer, though Rory didn't seem to really need to be worried about herself on that front anymore, as the brunette had moved on to trying to get rid of Steph. Rory didn't need to worry about that though, Steph could more than take care of herself.<p>

"Ooh, pretty." Lorelai cooed as she walked in to the room behind Rory.

"You think?" Rory asked, turning from side to side experimentally. She was wearing a short black and pink flowery skirt with a white tank top and a light pink cashmere cardigan. A pair of pink ballet flats were on her feet, with a small bow shaped purse.

"Yeah, though plait your hair at the front."

Rory nodded and hurriedly worked on her hair.

"So how was Lane this morning?" her Mom asked.

"Moody." Rory replied "Her first hangover."

"Ahh well, I never thought it would be you that lead her off the straight and narrow."

"I did no such thing!" Rory said indignantly and Lorelai smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Logan's here by the way"

"What? He's been there the whole time? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Hey, it's good to keep a guy waiting."

Rory rolled her eyes. "I'm leaving now."

"I'll see you later honey!" Lorelai called cheerily.

Logan was sat in the lounge when she appeared.

"Hey…" he said, staring to get up and coming towards her. Before he could do anything else Rory had grabbed his arm and was pulling him out the door.

"Quick!" she said "Before she pulls out the photo album."

They didn't stop until they were safely in Logan's car.

"Hello to you too." He said calmly as he looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Do you have something to hide in those photo albums? An abnormally large head?..."

"Shut up." Rory muttered leaning forward to kiss him.

He smirked at her. "If this was why you were in such a hurry you only had to say…"

Rory rolled her eyes and pecked him on the lips. "Lets go then." She said, staring straight ahead. "Wait, where are we going! I want to know now! I've had enough waiting!"

"Wait until we get there." Logan replied, grinning at her. Rory was about to ask again when she remembered this morning and decided to try a different tactic.

She smirked at him herself and lent forward, so her lips were close to his. "Please." She murmured, turning the full force of her blue eyes on him.

He smirked in amusement. "Nope."

"Please." She murmured, leaning forward so her lips brushed his ever so slightly, making sure he caught the sent of her perfume as she did so. She felt his breath catch.

He shook his head.

"Please" she whispered, pressing her lips to his neck and making him shudder slightly.

"No." he said slowly.

She leant even closer to him and placing her hand on his thigh, sucking on his pulse point. "Please."

She felt him shiver and heard the groan from the back of his throat. Rory smirked. "Please?" she murmured again.

She felt him move, shifting to whisper something in her ear. She smiled.

Then he spoke. "Not going to work Ace."

She frowned in annoyance at the amusement in his tone, and pulled away with a sound of fustration, turning towards the front of the car and folding her arms.

She heard Logan snicker and he pulled out of the drive way.

She was intent on not speaking to him, but when they pulled up to a little Chinese restaurant she couldn't find it in her to be annoyed anymore.

It was small inside, and was run by an old couple. Everywhere was candle lit and it had a homey atmosphere to it. Everywhere was covered in rich colours and the smell of the food was amazing.

"How did you find this place?" she asked, looking around the room, taking in the couples of people dotted about.

"It was down to Finn actually." Logan said as they followed a waiter to their table. "He escaped from the pub when he was out with his cousin one night and she panicked, ending up calling us to find him. It took us ages to do so but when we did he was sat in here, and had some how managed to sober up, and was just sat there eating. We all ended up stopping and it was nice. I knew you'd like it."

"It's amazing." She said, sitting down.

The waitress handed her a menu and she scanned the many options. "Have you got a pen?" she asked the women that was taking the orders and Logan chuckled.

"You might need enough food for twelve." He told the waitress with a grin.

The food tasted as good as it smelt and it was nice to finally get some alone time with him. After the meal they headed to the cinema in Stars Hollow, and after dealing with Kirk, enjoyed the film.

* * *

><p>"Tonight was good." She said smiling at him. They were sat in the car outside Doose's, ready for Logan to drop her off.<p>

"Glad you enjoyed it Ace."

"I really enjoyed it." She said. "Thank you."

"Your welcome." He said, leaning forward to kiss her. She slid her arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss, and she let out a moan when his tongue slipped in to her mouth.

"I've missed you." She murmured against his mouth.

"I've missed you too." He muttered against the kin of her neck. His hand was just edging for the edge of her shirt when there was a tap on the window, making them both jump, and causing her to bang her head on the ceiling.

"Taylor!" she said, staring at the cardigan wearing mayor in shock "What are you doing here?"

Logan pressed the button to make the window go down and Taylor leaned in to the car.

"I just wanted to check everything was okay Rory." He said, eyeing the two of them warily "I saw the lights on and wondered what two people could possibly be doing in a car at this time of night. I was simply checking that you were okay."

"Well we're fine Taylor." Rory said, trying not to snap at him.

"Yes, I can see that now, I was just checking." He said. "Anyway, you two should move along now. Off you go."

Rory sighed and Logan nodded, starting the car up again and pulling away from the curb. Taylor watched them all of the way, Kirk appearing by his side. That was when she caught sight of Dean, standing a little way back from the other two, his gaze hostile as he looked at the car. Rory groaned inwardly, still having not told Logan about the confrontation that morning.

"People in this town are nosy." Logan muttered, irritated.

"Yep." Rory said, glaring in the rear-view mirror.

* * *

><p>They didn't get much time alone after that night. Lorelai was now trying to make sure that Logan wasn't near Rory too often, as the news of what had happened has spread through town the next day. Tristan was still away for the rest of the week, and Paris was keeping up her agreement, and at least trying to be civil. Before they knew it, it was Friday night, and time for her Grandparents party.<p>

There she was, sat in the back of Logan's limo once again, only this time instead of being on the way to a fun night with people their age, they were going to a society party where image was everything.

"Well, this should be fun." Steph said sarcastically, glancing out of the tinted window at the Gilmore mansion, and the driveway already full of expensive cars.

"I hate these parties." Colin muttered "And it doesn't help that your Grandfather has awful taste in scotch."

"I have to see my mother." Finn groaned, leaning back across Steph's lap, but she was too busy staring at what must have been her parent's car to care. "Kill me now."

"I don't know what you're all going on about. You're not the ones that are going to be under scrutiny by everyone." Rory muttered

"You're telling me." Logan groaned "We have to see my parents."

"Way to be reassuring." Rory sighed.

"Sorry, it'll be fine. Just don't mention peas."

"Well I'm sure they're likely to come up." Rory said "But at least you've already met my Grandparents, they obviously love you."

"They're probably just glad you're not going out with that farmer boy anymore." Steph pointed out.

"Not helping." Colin replied.

Finn groaned as the car jolted to a stop. "I need alcohol, lots of it."

"Well your best bets in there." Steph said "Come on children, lets go."

"Rory, darling!" Emily's voice cut through the air the second they walked through the door and she gripped Logan's hand tighter. "How are you?"

"I'm fine Grandma." Rory said, accepting her grandmothers hug while the maid took the coats. "Hi, Grandpa." She said, turning to the taller man.

"Hello Rory." He said bending down to kiss her cheek.

"Logan!" Emily said cheerily, turning to look at him. "How wonderful to see you again."

"It's good to see you too Emily." He said, turning on the charm. "Richard."

"Logan." He replied, shaking hands. "Hope your taking care of our Granddaughter here."

"Wouldn't dream of not doing so, Sir." Logan replied and Emily laughed.

"Oh Richard, of course he's taking care of her, Logan knows how to treat a young woman correctly."

"Of course Logan, I'm sorry." Richard smiled, holding up his hands.

"Nothing to be sorry for Sir." Logan replied "I think I see my parents over there, so if you don't mind, we'll go and see them now."

"Of course!" Emily said "You must go and see Shira and Mitchum. We'll see you both later, have fun!"

Rory scoffed under her breath as they walked away. "Right." She muttered.

"Hope you're ready for round two." Logan said as he steered her towards a couple standing on the left area of the room, obviously his parents. His mum looked glamorous, even though she was obviously getting older, and Mitchum looked as intimidating as he did on the front of all the magazines. It made her more nervous than ever to think that she was not only meeting Logan's parents, but one of the biggest newspaper magnets in the world.

"Mom, Dad." Logan greeted, leaning forward to kiss his Mom and shake his Dad's hand, getting a "Son" from Mitchum and a "Hello Darling" from Shira.

"How've you been?" Shira asked sweetly, her voice dripping with society tone, "How's school, not getting in to trouble again I hope."

"No, everything's fine Mom." Logan said, rubbing the back of his neck out of stress. "Err, Dad, Mom, I'd like to introduce my girlfriend Rory Gilmore." He placed a hand on the small of her back and Rory relaxed slightly, finding his touch reassuring.

Mitchum and Shira's eyes fell on her and Rory smiled at the nervously. "I'm pleased to meet you Mr Huntzburger, Mrs Huntzburger."

Mitchum nodded stiffly. "It's nice to meet you too Rory, you're Richard and Emily's Granddaughter right?"

"Yes Sir."

"Of course." Shira said, "They talk about you all the time. It's good to finally meet you too Rory."

"Thank you Mrs Huntzburger." Rory said.

"It's nice to see that Logan has finally taken his family responsibilities seriously." Shira said "Finally trying to see someone with a better family background, even if your parents were a little…wild." Her smile became slightly more forced at that point.

"Lorelai and Christopher are great Mom." Logan said, wrapping his arm more securely around Logan's waist. "I've met them both a few times."

Shira nodded. "I'm sure they are. Your father is Christopher Hayden, correct? I heard that his new business is very successful. That's good"

"Yeah," Rory said, her own smile becoming slightly forced as she stuck up for her parents "It's going well, I think."

"We saw him at a couple of functions I attended with Mitchum in the summer, right dear." She glanced at Mitchum, and he nodded in agreement.

"Yes, we did." He said, though his tone wasn't anywhere near as friendly as Shira's, and he was looking at Rory with unnerving suspicion.

"I'm sure your mothers doing…fine too." Shira said, "Though I haven't seen her around for a while. Is she well?"

"Yes she's fine," Rory said "She runs an inn in Stars Hollow, where we live."

"It's good." Logan said "It would work out for a few of your DAR functions I think."

"Ah, well, I'll have to talk to Emily about that." Shira said, though she didn't sound convinced.

"So, umm," Rory started, glancing uncomfortably at Mitchum again "You know my Grandparents quite well then?"

"Well of course!" Shira replied "I've been in the DAR with Emily for years, and Mitchum plays golf with Richard regularly. I must, say, I remember Emily saying that you had gone away to school in England, but it never occurred to me that it would have been the same one Logan was attending. That's just marvellous. Tell me Rory, did you enjoy England?"

"Yeah I did." Rory said smiling "I like the country, and the history of some of the buildings in Oxford are amazing."

"We like it too." Shira said smiling, and glancing again at her silent husband "We often go together. And you said you liked the history of the place? You should join the historical group in the DAR; we'd be more that glad to have you as a member."

Rory tensed slightly at the mention of her joining the DAR. "Umm, yeah, maybe."

"We've both got a lot on with school at the minute Mom." Logan said, quickly coming to her rescue.

"Of course." Shira said "But you must consider it Rory, it would be marvellous."

"I will Mrs Huntzburger." Rory said, smiling the best she could.

"Please, call me Shira. You're dating my Son, so hopefully we will be seeing a lot more of you. You must come for dinner and meet Elias, right Mitchum?"

"Yes, of course, we'd be glad to have you Rory." Mitchum said, but Rory got the feeling he'd like anything but that.

"Thank you." Rory said, smiling at them both nervously.

"We better go and make the rounds Mom." Logan said, and Rory was relieved that she could get out of Mitchum's gaze.

"Of course." Shira said, "I'm sure we'll see you later. Lovely to meet you Rory."

"You too." Rory replied "See you again soon."

Mitchum nodded and Shira smiled and Logan guided her across the room away from his parents.

"That wasn't so bad." Logan murmured when they were out of earshot and sight.

"Yeah, your Mom seems nice." Rory replied "Your Dad was…"

"He gets like that." Logan assured her "I'm sure he'll be better next time." Although his voice was reassuring Rory wasn't that convinced.

"Right." Rory muttered, leaning against him "God, I wish they wouldn't all stare."

Logan glanced around the room. "We could get out of the way for a while. You got a room here?"

Rory smiled and nodded. "This way."

* * *

><p>"Nice." Logan said in amusement as he looked around the room, complete with posters. "Looks like you've been keeping this quiet Ace."<p>

"I didn't choose them." Rory said, rolling her eyes.

"Right." Logan replied, smirking at her.

"Oh, shut up." She snapped, pushing at his chest but he caught her hand, smirking even more.

"Oh, so this was why you wanted to see my room." She said, raising her eyebrows.

"You wound me Ace, my intentions were entirely honourable." He said, but his face told a different story.

"Sure they were."

He grinned and lent down to kiss her. It had been the first time they had been alone in a few days and she sighed in to the kiss, leaning in to him even more.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and hers moved up his chest and towards his shoulders, as Logan backed her towards the edge of the bed. He groaned as her fingers moved to play with the hair on the back of his neck, and he moved his head down to kiss her neck. Rory gasped as he gently sucked on her pulse point, and he shifted them so she was lying on the bed with him on top of her.

Logan deepened the kiss as Rory opened her mouth, his tongue sliding in and dancing with hers, as Rory's hands slid up his shirt. The next few minutes were a bit of a haze, the pair of them lost in feeling and both loosing clothing. Rory slid out of her dress as she rid Logan of his shirt, and soon he was shirtless, and she was left in just her underwear.

His hand was just moving up her stomach when the both froze, hearing the same noise at the same time.

Someone was starting to open the door to her room.

**A/N: That's chapter 16 then. Again, I'm sorry that it was so late; I've just had a lot on at the minute. So, the Huntzburger's were finally introduced. Most people in the reviews said that they wanted them to like Rory, so I tried to make one of them do so, but I think the story can progress better if one of them doesn't. I tried to make them both as accurate as possible, but I don't think I got it exactly right, so sorry if their personalities seemed a bit AU.**

**About the excerpts, I will be trying to send a few out, when I've started to write the next chapter, but I can't guarantee it, as some of the chapters I write in one go, and it would be better if I posted the whole thing straight away instead of delaying it. I was finding for the past few chapters that sending excerpts for parts of the chapter out was taking so long, as I try to do individual PM's for everyone, and delaying the progress of the story. I thought it would be better if I said I wouldn't definitely do them. I may sometimes send them, if I'm ahead in writing, but I may not. I WILL still try to reply to all reviews, excerpt or not, and if anyone specifically wants an excerpt, you can ask for one, and if I have written one, I will send it out. I hope that's okay, and again, I'm really sorry for not replying to the reviews for the last chapter. I really appreciate them all though, and I have read all of them. **

**I will try and update the best I can, and as soon as I can. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review! **

**Thanks! (And sorry for both of the big AN's. )**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Okay, Hi everyone. I can't say how sorry I am for leaving it this long, after once again promising I wouldn't. It's been months and I really do apologise. I ran out of ideas for a while and then my life got completely crazy and I've barely had any free time in weeks. I finally came up with an idea for the next few chapters, and hurried to write this one in a few days. **

**I'm sorry to all of the reviews and PM's I left unanswered, I have read them all and I love it when I get any, I really appreciate it, and I'm really sorry that I haven't had chance to reply to any.**

**I hope you like the chapter, and that everyone who read the story in the past hasn't lost interest now. It's not as long as usual, but I wanted to get it done as soon as possible, which is also why there may be a few errors.**

**But anyway, hope you enjoy!**

_Recap:_

_His hand was just moving up her stomach when the both froze, hearing the same noise at the same time. _

_Someone was starting to open the door to her room._

They both glanced to the side with identical looks of horror, and as the door was just being pushed open they heard the giggling.

"Oh Tristan…" a familiar voice sounded, followed by another round of high pitched giggles.

Then a very familiar couple came in to view and Rory didn't know whether to be relieved or even more horrified.

The couple in the doorway both looked up in surprise that there were already people in the room, and Logan and Rory quickly rolled away from each other and sat up.

"Oh," Summer said with some surprise, "We didn't realise there was anyone in here…" Her eyes narrowed with jealousy as she looked at Logan and Rory, and Rory didn't miss the way her eyes appreciatively roamed across Logan's bare chest.

Tristan's eyes however, were focused on Rory, and she shifted uncomfortably in her half naked state. His eyes showed mixed emotions, lust, anger and a hint of something that Rory could not figure out. She couldn't tell if he was smirking at her, or grimacing.

"Ahem" Rory cleared her throat "It is my room." She said, her voice slightly uneven "You probably shouldn't be wandering around upstairs in my Grandparents house."

"Because I'm sure they know that you're up here." Tristan said, his eyes hardening. But his face was definitely twisted in to a smirk now, and Rory tensed, her eyes narrowing.

It had been the first time that she had seen him in a few days, and the bruises on his face from Logan and Finn, were starting to fade, though they were still quite prominently there. They clashed brilliantly with his black tuxedo, giving his appearance an odd, rugged effect, that Rory was sure that his mother would be very happy with.

"Get out of here Dugrey." Logan said, standing up and blocking Rory slightly from view. Rory bent down and hurriedly picked up her discarded dress from the floor.

"Why? Want some more privacy to carry on what you were doing? You're grandparents would be so disappointed Mary; you're the talk of the party down there, 'grandparents little angel', 'the darling couple'." He sneered, stepping to the side as Rory was zipping up her dress. "I don't think they'd be too happy if they found you up here."

"Just leave, both of you." She snapped "Go and find another place to carry on what you were doing."

"I guess that was what you were doing too?" Summer said, glaring at Rory. "I see _you're_ not so innocent anymore. Hmm, and you call me a slut…"

Rory laughed harshly "Right because my one guy compared to your….How many again? Or have you lost count?"

"Ladies…" Tristan said, stepping forward, "No need to fight. I assure you, I have no problem with either of you being _worldly_" H raised his eyebrows "In fact, I quite like it." His smirk increased and Rory rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, in your dreams Tristan." She snapped, as she slid her feet in to her heels. "Now do us a favour and leave us alone."

"I don't know, I think I like it right here." He said.

"Come on Tristan, let's just go." Summer said, clearly not liking the attention he was giving Rory.

"Yeah Tristan," Logan said, mimicking Summer as he finished buttoning up his shirt "You just go. How's your eye anyway?"

Tristan glared. "You wouldn't start something here Huntzburger."

He laughed "I wouldn't bet on it Dugrey. Now how about you go and join the rest of the party like a good boy, and leave us to our business."

Tristan was about to make a comment when another person sounded from the hallway and the doorway was swung open even more, causing Rory and Logan to hurriedly step closer together to block the rumpled bed sheets from view.

"There you to are!" Emily said, looking at Rory and Logan sternly. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Yeah sorry Grandma." Rory said, hurriedly trying to think up an excuse "I err...my hair fell out and I needed to redo it. Logan said he'd come with me."

"Well, it looks like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards. What have you been doing up here all this time, you clearly haven't done anything with it. And who are you?" she said looking at Tristan and Summer.

"They were lost." Rory said quickly, looking pointedly at the two of them, knowing that they didn't have a real reason to be up there either "Looking for a bathroom. And we got talking, they're from Chilton."

"Oh," Emily said, scrutinizing the group of them "Well, I suppose that okay then. But its terribly bad manners to go upstairs in a hostess's house you know, there's a bathroom downstairs, like always."

"Of course, my apologies Mrs Gilmore." Tristan said, laying the charm on thick, while smirking at Rory "We were hoping there was one away from the crowds. It's a fabulous party, I'm here with my Grandfather, I believe you know him, I'm Tristan Dugrey."

"Oh, well absolutely. Richard has been doing business with you're grandfather for years. But you still shouldn't be up here, you two should run along and enjoy the party."

"Of course, Mrs Gilmore. See you later Rory…Logan." With that the two of them turned to leave, but not before Tristan threw a wink at Rory as he was walking out. Rory glared at his back before turning her attention back to her grandmother.

"Well, hurry and fix your hair Rory, we haven't got all day. And Logan, I think you're father is looking for you, he wants you to….Oh my lord, what on earth happened to those?" she asked in shock, looking behind the two of them to the bed.

"Umm…" Rory paused, trying to think up an excuse.

"They were like that already." Logan said quickly, "I guess the maid didn't finish changing them or something, the rush of the party…"

"Well she's fired." Emily said "That is ridiculous, you pay them to do a job, and they don't even finish it properly."

"Disgraceful." Logan said, as Rory smiled weakly.

"Hmm, I just can't understand why she would leave them like that though. Its one thing to leave the job completely, but that looks like someone has come in and messed them up." She looked at them sceptically.

"No idea." Rory said shrugging "It was like that when we opened the door."

"Well." Emily said, still eyeing the two of them "I suppose it was the maid then. Don't worry; she'll be gone by next Friday Rory. Now you two hurry up, come back down and join the party."

"We'll be right down Grandma." Rory said, as Emily turned to walk away.

The second she was gone Rory turned to Logan.

"You blamed the Maid! She'll get fired now for something she didn't even do!"

"She was going to get fired anyway Ace, you know what your grandmothers like."

"I still don't like being responsible for it."

"It got us off the hook didn't it?" Logan said "Now come on, we should go back down before she comes back up."

Rory nodded reluctantly, and turned to fix her hair that had been messed up while they were making out.

* * *

><p>An hour later Rory was nodding as two DAR friends of her Grandmother were talking to her about a function that she 'simply must attend' going on next weekend.<p>

"You simply must go Rory, it's the social event of the year."

"Yes you must, and the salmon puffs there are simply to die for."

"Well, I'll think about it, depending on my workload from school." Rory said, glancing around for a way out.

"I'm sure you deserve a night off." One of the women said, and Rory smiled slightly, feeling an arm wrap around her shoulder.

"Sorry ladies, you don't mid if I steal my Girlfriend away do you?" he asked them, smiling charmingly.

"Not at all, you two go on." One said, smiling "You make such a lovely couple."

"See you later." Rory said forcing a laugh, and sighing with relief as Logan lead her away.

"I thought I'd be stuck there forever." Rory muttered as they made their way across the room.

"You think that was bad, you haven't just spent an hour talking shop talk with my father and all of his business associates." Logan sighed.

"I wouldn't mind it so much normally, talking to all those people in journalism," she said "But the way you're dad's acting towards me I don't think it'd be such good idea. It's like he hated me."

"He doesn't hate you Ace, he just doesn't trust you. He doesn't trust anyone."

"Yeah, maybe." Rory said with a sigh. "Where is everyone anyway? You're the first one of us I've seen in the last hour."

"Pool House." Logan replied, guiding her towards the back doors "Finn started a sub party when we came back downstairs."

"Thank God." She muttered, "I need to get out of this room."

They were just nearing the door when a blonde in a green dress, and small black heels came to an abrupt stop next to them.

"Paris?" Rory said with some surprise, not understanding why the blonde was even there, never mind coming near them.

"Do you have a watch?" Paris asked, looking between the two of them "Do you know the time?"

"Umm, 9.30." Rory said, glancing at her own watch "Why?"

"My parents say I have to stay until 10.30. Why are you two leaving? The party is all because of you, you shouldn't be leaving already! Why do you get to leave?"

"We're not leaving Paris." Rory said, "We're just going to the pool house."

"Why?" Paris replied, her eyes narrowing "What's going on in there."

"There's just a few of us hanging out. Nothing special." Rory said.

"And they're waiting. We should go before Finn does something really stupid." Logan said, taking her hand and edging towards the doors.

"Oh, well whatever." Paris said shrugging. "Don't forget tomorrow morning, 10.00 sharp at your house. Don't still be asleep, whatever you're going to be doing tonight. We have a lot of work to do."

"I won't Paris." Rory said "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Fine." Paris snapped back, "See you then."

"Come on, let's go," Rory muttered, pulling Logan toward the pool house.

""Love! There you are!" Finn shouted the second Rory opened the door. "We've been waiting for ages for you!" He was sprawled across one end of the couch, bottle of champagne in hand, while Steph was sat at the other end.

"Yeah, I can't believe you left me alone with this lot." Steph said, shooting her a glare.

"Sorry, I got caught up with the DAR women." Rory muttered, pulling a face as she sat in between the two of them and Finn handed her the bottle.

"Huntz! There you are." A voice called from the other end of the room, and Rory glanced round to see a group of guys, including Colin, sat around one of the tables, evidently being used for poker, and Rory recognised it as James speaking. "You've got some catching up to do. Hey Rory." He said, grinning at her.

"Hey James." Rory said as Logan shot her a wink whilst he was walking over. "Going well?" she asked, gesturing towards the table.

"As always." He said with a smirk. "You should come over here and be Huntz and McCrae's good luck charm, they need it. Your boyfriend owes me $3000 from last time."

Another one of the guys that Rory recognised as Carter from the Yale party laughed as Colin shook his head.

"No way." He said, "I'm never letting either of those two near a poker table. It becomes a disaster area when they try to get involved."

"Hey!" Rory and Steph said. "We're not that bad." Steph said indignantly and Colin scoffed.

"Right." He muttered as Logan laughed next to him.

"Well we're fine here." Steph said, taking the champagne bottle from Rory and taking a swig.

"All girls together." Finn said grinning and producing a flask from his pocket. Rory grinned, it was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p>"Mmm." Rory groaned, rolling over I bed and pulling the quilt over her head as bright sunlight streamed in through the window.<p>

She glanced across at the clock and sat up straight in bed in shock.

"Crap." she muttered, swinging her legs out of bed and groaning again as shooting pains shot through her head. "Not now." She moaned as she shuffled towards the closet looking for something the slightest bit decent to wear.

It was 9.50 and Paris was due in ten minutes. After throwing on a pair of jeans and a cashmere sweater she grabbed a hairbrush and staggered in to the kitchen in search of a painkiller for her head. Now was so not the time to be dealing with Paris.

Rory sighed with relief when she found the pack of tablets in the cupboard and grabbed a glass for some water. Her head was killing her, the night before a blur. She knew that Logan dropped her off and that Steph went home with Colin, and that was all she needed to think about just then.

Rory was just running a brush through her hair as the doorbell rang. Great, she thought, hoping the painkiller would kick in soon as she hurried to answer the door.

"Rory." Lorelai called as she appeared at the top of the stairs. "You're up."

"Yeah." Rory said "Paris is here, and I bet she'll be in full blown work mode."

"Oh, fun." Lorelai said as Rory pulled the door open.

"Finally." Paris said, walking swiftly passed Rory before the door was fully open "I thought I was going to be standing out there for hours at that rate. We have a lot to do, there's no time for dawdling around on porches. You look terrible by the way."

"You weren't standing there for that long Paris." Rory said with a sigh, "And I'm fully aware of my appearance."

"I knew last night was a recipe for disaster. You can't seriously think that partying all night with your over privileged friends will help you with your studies. I still can't believe that you're actually managing."

"For the last time Paris, I have not been cheating! And you're right; we do have a lot to do, so there's no point standing around arguing. And this truce you proposed also includes you not insulting my friends, okay!"

"I have coffee." Lorelai's voice sounded from the other room.

"I'm just going to get some, otherwise there is no way I'm going to be able to focus. When I get back we can start." Before Paris could say another word Rory turned on her heel and walked out the room.

"Oh, thank you." She said as Lorelai handed her a cup of coffee.

"I thought you could do with saving for a few minutes." Lorelai said, but smile didn't quite meet her eyes.

"I did. God, I don't know how I'm going to spend a whole day with her.

"Yeah…" Lorelai paused "So you were a bit of a mess when you got in last night."

"Yeah…sorry. Things got a bit crazy in the pool house. Finn was making his special cocktails, and they're always a recipe for disaster.

"Right. Huh. Are you sure that doing that's a good idea?"

"What do you mean?" Rory asked, frowning slightly.

"I just never expected you to be one of those people."

"What people?"

"You know…" Lorelai started "One of those privileged rich kids who spends their nights partying all the time and getting drunk, because they can and no ones going to stop them."

"It was one night!" Rory said.

"You were at a party in the week too. And I know by the look of Lane that you weren't exactly an angel then too."

"Well yeah, but it's a party. It happens."

"Well how many of those are you going to? How many did you go to while you were in London? I just never raised you be like that?

"Like what? And I thought you were fine with everything. My studies haven't suffered, my grades are still good."

"I just think that your friends might be a bad influence on you. You can't spend your life partying there will be consequences."

"A bad influence?" Rory asked "My friends are great, and I know that you can't spend my life partying, but I'm young, I'm making the most of it."

"Yeah well, I don't like it. You're pending too much time in my parents world, its altering your perspective. You can't get away with everything, I didn't raise you to be like this, like those people."

"Well I'm sorry I've been such a big disappointment to you." Rory snapped, taking a step back "Is this about me or my friends? I know you don't like people in society; you've made that very clear. But they have made me happy over the past year, and you don't know them, so don't pretend to."

"I know I'm sorry. I just want to make sure you stay you, and don't turn in to a frivolous girl that takes everything for granted."

"Well, I'm still me." Rory said "And I'll do my best. Now I'm going to work with Paris, if that's okay with you of course." She slammed her cup on the counter and stormed out of the room.

"Rory!" Lorelai called after her, but Rory ignored her and turned to face Paris.

"I can't work here." Paris said, standing up.

"What?" Rory asked.

"There are too many distractions, and I think that lamp is looking at me." She said, turning to face the monkey lamp.

"It's not looking at you Paris." Rory sighed.

"Whatever, where else can we go? Is there a restaurant in this town? We can eat too."

"There's Luke's." Rory said slowly "It's a diner."

"I guess it'll have to do. Paris sighed, "Let's go."

"Okay." Said Rory, partially glad to be getting out of the house after the fight with her mother as she followed Paris.

* * *

><p>As they pushed the door open to Luke's, Rory saw a familiar guy sprawled across one of the tables.<p>

"Rory!" Luke called, spotting her before she could walk over to him. "Please get your friend out of this diner."

"Finn?" Rory asked, glancing again at the Australian, who was now waggling his eyebrows at Miss Patty over his usual sunglasses, dressed in the same outfit he was wearing last night, albeit a more run down version.

"Yes, him." Luke said agitatedly, looking across at Finn with annoyance. "He's been sat in here for the past few hours moaning about the light in here and chatting up every customer that comes in, male or female. He's putting customers off. You need to get him out!"

"Finn's kind of hard to control." Rory said, "But I promise I'll keep an eye on him."

"Okay, fine, but anything else and I'm kicking hi out myself."

"I will." Rory promised, leading Paris over to a table by Finn.

"Are we done with the useless conversations now? Can we actually get on with work." Paris asked.

"We can start right away Paris; I just need to talk to Finn for a second."

"Fine." But hurry she snapped, sitting down at the table and getting her books out."

Rory rolled her eyes and walked over to where Finn was sat, smiling reassuringly at Luke as he watched from across the room, eyeing the Australian wearily.

"Hey Finn." Rory said, turning to look at the him, now sat leaning across on to Miss Patty's table."

"Morning Love." Finn said, grinning at her. "The people in this town are wonderful. I feel right at home around here."

"I'll bet." She said, glancing at Miss Patty.

"Oh Rory, Hunny!" Miss Patty said, "You're friend is just delightful, he reminds me of me in my youth. He's sexy too."

"So they say." Rory replied, "But Finn, can you settle down a tad? You're annoying Luke a little."

"Sure thing Love." Finn said, "He's just prissy because he doesn't have sense of humour. He needs to lighten up a little." He pulled his flask out of his pocket as if to exaggerate that fact.

"Oh, you're so bad." Miss Patty said, laughing loudly and Rory rolled her eyes, turning to sit at Paris's table.

"You ready now?" Paris asked, looking up at Rory again.

"Yes, I'm ready Paris." Rory sighed, sitting down.

They had been studying for twenty minutes when Rory leant back in her chair, having coffee cravings again. As if on cue, Luke walked over and handed her a cup. She smiled her thanks at him and re read what they had done so far.

Paris looked up and was just opening her mouth to speak when the chair beside Rory was pulled back and someone sat down.

"Hey Rory." Dean said as he sat, turning to look at her with a lecherous smile on his face. "I haven't seen you in a couple of days."

"No, you haven't." Rory said frowning at him as she looked him up and down, he was wearing his Dose's apron once again. She glanced around hoping Finn wouldn't see, since she still hadn't told Logan about her run in with Dean the other day. "Umm, you remember Paris? Paris you remember Dean?"

"Yeah, Hi." Dean said glancing at the blonde.

"Right, Farmer boy." Paris replied grimly.

"Umm, okay." Dean said, "Speaking of people we know, who's that rich blonde guy I keep seeing you with?"

Rory frowned, knowing that he knew exactly who Logan was, especially with the way gossip travelled in Stars Hollow. Before she could answer though she felt someone else come up beside her.

"Hey Ace, who's this?"

**A/N: Well, that's it then. I have a plan for the next few chapters so I'll try and get those up soon, though I know I've said that before. I really hoped you liked the chapter and Please Review! It really encourages me to write more and I will honestly reply to as many as I can. Truly this time. I will send excerpts if I get chance, though that may not be very likely. **

**Thanks you to everyone who has stuck with me all this time, and thank you for reading to anyone who has just started it.**

**SophieeeeXD**


	18. AN

**A/N: ****Hi Everyone.**

**I'm sorry that it isn't an update, but this is my first Authors note chapter, and I will be updating as soon as I can.**

**Now, this is just a quick question to anyone reading this story, or my other Gilmore Girls one. A lot of authors on FF post photos and other information about chapters and stories on blogs and other websites that they have set up. I have been thinking of doing this for a while now, but I wasn't 100%.**

**One of my questions is, would anyone be interested in me doing one, and the photo's and updates I would put up there? I don't want to create one and post a load of stuff that no one is bothered about.**

**My second question is does anyone know of a good site for it would be? I have never really done a blog before, so I don't know what sites people use, and which ones are the best? I have tumblr, but I don't use it very often. I know people used to use Live Journal a lot, but is that still used at all? If anyone knows of any good, and free, sites that would work for this, can you please leave it in a review or PM me? Oh, and the site needs to be able to be used in England, otherwise I will not be able to use it. Any instructions and tips on how to use them would be good too, as I'm pretty clueless about it all.**

**So, if anyone thinks this is a good idea, can you please let me know, in a review or PM. If this is something that people would be interested in, and someone could give me advice on how to do it, then I will hopefully have it set up, if not tonight, in the next few days. I will post another A/N if I do.**

**Thank you to everyone who has been reading the story, the hits, favourites, and reviews have all really encouraged me to think about setting this up. I will update as soon as I can, but if I do make a blog, I will put details and photos up in the mean time.**

**Thanks!**

**Sophie xx**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I'm not going to spend time giving excuses on why its been so long, I can only apologise so much to you all. This chapter's been a long time coming, but I hope you enjoy it, and I'll have a longer AN at the bottom. **

_Recap:_

"_Umm, okay." Dean said, "Speaking of people we know, who's that rich blonde guy I keep seeing you with?"_

_Rory frowned, knowing that he knew exactly who Logan was, especially with the way gossip travelled in Stars Hollow. Before she could answer though she felt someone else come up beside her._

"_Hey Ace, who's this?"_

"Logan." Rory said in surprise, turning in her chair to see the familiar blonde stood behind her, smiling down at her with a slight frown on his face.

"You miss me?" he asked with a smirk, bending down to kiss her, placing his hand lightly on the back of her chair.

"Always." she replied shakily, as she pecked him on the lips and then turned back to look at Dean with wide eyes. His were narrowed as he looked towards her and Logan, but it was the glint in his eye that scared Rory.

"Logan Huntzburger." Logan said, leaning just to the side of Rory and extending his hand to Dean. His tone was perfectly polite, but Rory could see the slight tension in his stance, and she knew him well enough to tell that his behaviour wasn't what it seemed.

"Dean Forester." Dean replied, shaking Logan's hand, but there was a worrying smirk across his face and his grip on Logan's hand seemed too firm. "Rory's told you about me?" he stated more than asked, his tone expectant.

Rory felt her stomach drop as Logan tensed even more beside her. She saw his grip on the chair tighten, his knuckles almost turning white, and she knew he was remembering who Dean was.

She laid a hand fearfully on his arm, trying to stop the situation from escalating.

"I don't know," Logan said slowly, but Rory could hear the anger and sarcasm in his voice and could sense the trouble brewing. "Your names not ringing any bells."

"Right," Dean murmured, and Rory could tell he didn't believe him. "Well we were just catching up _again_." Dean said, leaning back in his chair in a possessive gesture, reaching his arm over so that his hand was resting on the back of Paris's chair. To say she didn't look pleased was an understatement. She scowled at him and shifted over to the edge of her seat, glancing between the two guys and Rory with a look of pitying disgust. "It was so good seeing each other the other day, and we didn't really have a proper chance to..._reacquaint_ ourselves, you know?" His smirk widened as he saw Logan's expression, and neither Logan nor Rory missed the possessive nature in which he was talking about her.

"The other day?" Logan asked her, turning to look at her with a hardened look, but she could just make out the hurt in his eyes.

"She didn't tell you?" Dean said, feigning surprise, his eyes glinting some more. "Oh..." he said, still acting "Are you two going out?" He looked between the two of them as if he had only just noticed "I'm sorry man, I had no idea, Rory never said."

Logan looked at her. "Ace?" he asked slowly.

"I ran in to him at the market before school the other day." She said hurriedly, leaning towards him with a pleading look "Dean works there. And I did tell him I was seeing someone." She said, shooting Dean a dirty look, as he was still sprawled about on one of the chairs.

"I don't remember you ever mentioning that." Dean said, smirking maliciously.

"Well I'm sorry if you can't understand what the word 'unavailable' means." She snapped at him, her voice getting slightly desperate as she turned to look at Logan. "I was going to tell you, I swear."

"So why didn't you Rory?" He asked, his voice hard, and Rory flinched slightly at the use of her real name.

"I just..." she scrambled to find the right words "I was going to, and then there wasn't time before school, and then we had such a good time the other night, I didn't want to ruin things by telling you."

"Telling me what?" Logan said "Why would it ruin our night if was just a perfectly innocent conversation? Unless something else happened?"

"Nothing did!"Rory said desperately, standing up to maintain eye contact with him. "I swear. It wasn't even worth mentioning!"

"So what's he doing here now?"

"He just came over and sat down, Paris and I were working and he just invited himself. You can ask her!"

All eyes turned to the uptight blonde, who was still sat on the edge of her seat, her back perfectly straight.

"Don't look at me." She said, shaking her head "I'm not getting involved in this pathetic soap opera like situation. I have more important things to be doing, like the project _we're_ supposed to be working on." She looked pointedly at Rory.

"Just give me a second." Rory sighed in annoyance, turning her eyes back to the blonde that was far more important to her at this moment in time. "Logan please!" She said, taking hold of his hand, "Dean is ancient history, nothing happened or ever will. It just wasn't important enough to even mention, trust me!"

Logan just looked at her, his eyes travelling over her face and trying to assess the situation. Just when she thought he was understanding and was about to nod, Dean spoke again.

"Yeah, Logan," he said, leaning forward in his chair, his brown hair falling slightly in her place "Rory doesn't like it when people don't trust her."

"I know her, don't you tell me what she wants!" Logan snapped, taking a step towards Dean in the cramped space.

"Or you'll do what?" Dean snarled, getting to his own feet. He was a good few inches taller than Logan, but still had the awkward stoop to him and Rory had seen Logan in more than enough fights to know that he could handle himself. She wasn't sure who would win in a fight, and she didn't want to. Dean may be from the past, but a part of her still cared about him, she didn't want to see either one of them hurt because of her.

Logan shook his head and started to move towards Dean even more, starting to say something when a familiar figure appeared to Rory's left.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Luke said, stepping up beside the two guys and placing his hands in between them. "What the hell is going on over here? This is a diner, not some backstreet bar! If you wanna fight, take it outside, and preferably away from my business! Cool it down!"

"I was just talking. He in interrupted us." Dean said, glaring at Logan, his body still tensed and ready for a fight.

"Interrupted you harassing my girlfriend." Logan smirked himself, "I'm pretty sure your presence wasn't wanted around here, Bag Boy."

Dean's partly amused expression changed to one of complete anger at the nickname that Tristan used to give him, and Rory was furious with Logan for stooping to the level that he used to. "You better shut up before I get really angry."

Logan laughed. "What happens then huh? You going to hit me with you sweeping brush?"

"I'll kill you." Dean said taking a closer step towards the blonde, his face contorting into rage at Logan's smirking face.

"Stop it!" Rory cried, throwing her hands in between both of them "Stop it now!"

The two of them barely spared her a glance as they squared up to each other and Rory really began to panic.

"Alright, alright!" Luke said, dropping his notepad and pen on the table and throwing his hands in the air. "Enough all of you, you two can both get out of my diner right now!" he said, gesturing to the two guys, "I don't care what you do then, go and fight in front of Doose's and annoy Taylor, just get out of here!"

"I'm so sorry Luke." Rory said, looking apologetically at the diner owner and grabbing hold of Logan's arm and wrapping her fingers around the leather of his jacket. "Just go Dean. I don't want to see you again, you've ruined my morning and messed things up enough, just go."

Dean looked down at Rory's resolute expression and finally seemed to get that it was a lost cause, at that time anyway, she was still stood beside the rich blonde.

"You better watch your back." He snapped, tearing his eyes away from Rory to glare at Logan again.

"And why is that?" Another voice said from Rory's other side, and the familiar Australian figure of Finn appeared.

"Oh geez." Luke sighed exasperatedly, putting his hand on his head with a sigh, "Whatever. One of you, I don't care which one, just get out of here, and let everyone go back to their normal lives."

Dean looked between Logan and Finn warily, not liking the odds even more now there was another player added to the game, and Finn was still suffering from a hangover, which Rory knew from experience made him even more temperamental.

"Whatever." He snapped, starting to back towards the door of the diner, his icy gaze flitting between Logan and Finn warily, "I'll see you soon Rory." He said, glancing at her and nodding.

"You can stay away from her" Logan snapped angrily, but Dean just turned away and walked out the diner.

There was a silence when the door banged shut, and no one out of the small group moved, no one seeming to know what to do or say. Rory glanced timidly over at Logan, but he was still staring out of the window at the last place Dean had been in view, and she flitted her eyes over to the other two members of the group. Paris had blank expression on her face, as she watched curiously what she was sure was about to unfold, while Finn was watching Rory and Logan with a strangely astute look on his face.

"We should get on with the project Paris." Rory started, wanting to break the silence, her voice wavering slightly, "We don't have that much time..."

"Rory, I need a word." Logan stated his voice hard and she winced at the use of her real name.

"Outside." She murmured, glancing around at the towns people gathered in the diner who weren't even trying to hide the fact that they had been listening to the whole thing. The last thing she wanted was anyone nosing into anymore of her business, the last scene had been bad enough, and she knew it would be all over town in a matter of minutes.

Logan nodded stiffly, his back and shoulders tense as he walked out of the diner door without looking at her. Rory swallowed nervously, and glanced over at Paris, who had an expression that looked oddly like sympathy. That was wrong, Paris didn't do sympathy, did she really think what had just happened had been so bad?

Feeling a horrible pain in the pit of her stomach, Rory followed Logan's footsteps out the door.

The second she stepped out there her hair blew slightly across her face from the light breeze, while she squinted against the bright sunlight. Logan was stood just outside the door waiting for her, his blonde hair almost golden in the bright light.

"Why didn't you mention anything Ace?" he asked quietly, and Rory could see the hurt in his eyes for the first time when he looked at her, the emotion he kept locked away under the cocky demeanour coming out.

"I didn't want to ruin things." She said, he voice wobbly as she took a step closer to him. "It was nothing, just a tiny conversation. I know I should have told you, but it didn't even seem worth mentioning. I'm sorry." She murmured, taking his hand and trying to entwine their fingers.

He let her, but his hand was still heavy and pretty unresponsive in her grasp. "I promise you," she said softly, trying to meet his eyes, "He means absolutely nothing to me anymore."

Logan sighed, looking up at the sky and pinching the bridge of his nose with the hand that wasn't in hers.

"I know I'm new to this whole relationship thing Ace, but you've got to work with me here. We're supposed to tell each other things right? That's how this whole trust thing works. And if we can't trust each other then what have we got?"

"I trust do you!" Rory said, gripping his hand tighter "And I want you to trust me."

"Then we've got to talk to each other Rory. How would you feel if someone told you tomorrow that I'd been messaging a girl that I'd been sleeping with? Someone that I'd been with for a while?"

She nodded, she did see his point. She was constantly paranoid about all of the other girls Logan had been with, and she knew how she'd react if she had found out from the girl herself. She just never thought that it would be the opposite way round.

"I'm sorry," she started "I swear I'll tell you next time, I just didn't think. Can we just get past this?"

Logan nodded, meeting her eyes the for the first time. "Yeah." He said, linking their hands properly "I just never factored other guys into the situation. I mean, with your track record that you've told me about there was nothing to bother about. But now there's Dean, Tristan..."

"Nothing ever happened with Tristan." Rory said, shaking her head vigorously, "I promise you that, and nothing ever will."

"I know." Logan said, "I do trust you Ace, maybe I was overreacting a bit, I'm not used to feeling jealous over other guys." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, leaning his forehead against hers, and Rory leaned in to him, as the familiar and comforting smell of his cologne washed over her senses.

"What have you done to me Lorelai Gilmore." He said smiling lightly, "You've turned my world upside down."

"You act like you've not done the same to me." She answered staring into his chocolate eyes.

He laughed lightly, pulling her into a hug as she giggled. "You promise me there's nothing else you haven't told me, about now or in the past? I don't want any more surprises."

Rory paused slightly, her mind flashing back to a night so long ago, but she shook it off. That wasn't going to come up, it would only cause trouble, more than the scene before ever could. the horribly nervousness in the pit of her stomach, "Nothing else."

"Good." Logan murmured. "Come on, I'll by you an ice cream, see if we can show as much affection as possible to keep that cardigan wearing mayor of yours uncomfortable.

Rory laughed and leaned into him as his arm wrapped around her shoulders and he began to guide her down the street, shaking off the feeling from a few moments before.

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you." Steph said seriously, "Lancôme mascara is better than Clinique any day. It makes your lashes have more volume <em>and <em>length; Clinique's just do one or the other."

"But Clinique's have moisturising properties, which make your own lashes so much flutterier in the long run." Finn answered equally as seriously, waving his right hand around for extra emphasis.

"Oh dear God." Colin muttered, putting his head in his hands while Rory watched on with an amused smirk.

They were sat in the cafeteria in the middle of Chilton the next Friday lunch time, minus Logan who was in a mentor meeting with teacher. It had been rough week of classes, with teachers setting beginning of term tests to set targets for the rest of the year. College applications were due soon, and Rory was pushed to the limit.

"I'm the expert here Finn." Steph said insistently, "And I'm telling you, Lancôme and better."

"They are not."

"They are too. Rory tell him!" the blonde said, and all eyes turned two Rory, who just shrugged.

"Leave me out of this." She said "I don't use either of them."

"But if you did you'd use Clinique right." Finn said, nodding at her.

"I'm sure they're both equally worth getting." She replied trying to keep the peace.

".."

"How about we just put an end to this ridiculous conversation." Colin interrupted them all, "Jesus Finn, you're supposed to be a man."

"Are you questioning my masculinity?" Finn replied indigently, "I'll have you know a guy can know how to look good too. After all, it's how I get all the ladies." Finn winked at a passing brunette who giggles slightly.

"Sure you do." Colin muttered, shaking his head.

Rory laughed, looking around at her friends. It all looked so normal right now, but underneath it all she was lagging under the strain. Things were still tense with her and her Mom, and with her Dad out of the country on a business trip, there was no one around to keep the peace.

There was also the matter of the one thing that she hadn't told Logan, and being sat around the one it concerned every day, she was becoming more and more worried about it coming out. She knew that Logan could sense that she was worrying about something, and was getting more and more agitated when she wouldn't tell him what was wrong. It was a snowballing effect that was going to come to a crash sooner or later, and Rory was dreading it.

"Have you finished that presentation I sent to you?" A voice sounded behind her, and every pair of eyes on the table to see that straight backed blonde girl stood there.

"Yeah Paris." Rory said, smiling slightly at the other girl. "I've got it saved on a memory stick ready for the lesson."

"What did you think of the second slide? I wasn't sure if it was too much, or if it would have the right effect..."

"No, I thought it worked." Rory said, nodding as she recalled it "I Think it's going to be good."

"Of course it's going to be good, we're both in the top percent of the class, and it's going to be more than _good_."

Rory smiled back, more warmly than she ever thought would be possible with Paris. While working together for the past week the two had formed some sort of common ground, with similar future aspirations making them a good team. Rory wasn't the only one that had changed over the past year, the other girl was coming in to her won to and while Rory could come back with comments with as much bite, Paris's were becoming fewer and more far between.

She wouldn't exactly call them friends by a long shot, but they weren't enemies any more either.

"Well aren't you two sure of yourselves." Colin muttered, annoyed that he had been partnered with Finn on the project, their surnames being next to each other, and he was dreading what was sure to be a hilarious presentation. For everyone else at least, for Colin, it would most likely him getting angry at Finn, while Finn made a fool out of them both.

"We have the right to be, we worked on it. That is, when we're not out or hangover." Paris replied curtly, throwing Rory a look.

Rory made a noise that was a cross between a laugh and a sigh. Just like that the other Paris was back.

"What mascara do you use Love?" Finn asked, interrupting the conversation quickly.

Paris just looked at him while Colin groaned, "Not this again." He muttered, shaking his head.

"He's just trying to find someone who agrees with him because he knows I'm right." Steph commented calmly, shaking her blonde hair out behind her and shooting Finn a pointed look.

"I am not." Finn said indignantly, "Come on Love, with those luscious lashes of yours, you most use Clinique right? Definitely not Lancôme?"

Paris's face didn't change; she just looked over the four of them with a look of slight contempt. "As much as I love a good debate, I don't plan on wasting my skills on a topic choice as frivolous as this. But if we were debating," she looked pointedly at Finn "Cheap flattery would get you know where, especially from a guy who where's sunglasses indoors."

"Feisty, I like it." Finn replied, wiggling his eyebrows, "I do like a women in charge."

Paris looked repulsed as she looked at the Australian sprawled out and opened her mouth to retort.

"How about we go to History?" Rory quickly interrupted before a fight could break out, between debatably the two craziest people in the school it was not likely to end well.

Paris closed her mouth and nodded, shooting one last dirty look at the table. Rory said a quick goodbye and left the cafeteria with the blonde.

"Your friends are crazy." She muttered, "it's a wonder you kept any sanity after spending time with them.

Rory laughed. "You get used to it after a while." She said "Besides, crazy people make life more fun."

"I'll take your word for it." Paris replied as they walked through the door to the classroom. No one else had arrived yet, and Paris sat down at a desk at the front, while Rory walked to one behind her.

"Ah, Miss Gilmore, just the person." The teacher said as she walked into the room "While your up could you go and collect some books for my fifth period class from one of the store cupboards in by one of the English rooms? There's some in everyone, we've still got a couple of minutes before the bell."

Rory inwardly groaned, but nodded as she turned back around heading back out the door.

The bell rang just as she reached the cupboard, and she sighed. Great, that meant that she would miss the first few minutes of class and have to catch up, which always took longer.

She opened the door to the cupboard and walked inside, her eye on the wall as she searched for the light switch. The door swung shut behind her as the room was flooded with bright light form the dusty bulb above her head.

"Well, Well Mary, fancy seeing you here."

Rory spun as she heard the voice, coming face to face with the one person she had been avoiding like the plague all week.

"Great." She snapped, "Just what I need right now." She glared at him as her eyes scanned the shelves looking for the books she needed.

"Aw, Mary you wound me." Tristan said smirking, placing his hand on his heat in a mock act. "You're not even the slightest bit pleased to see me?"

"Oh no, I'm ecstatic." She snapped, "All of our other encounters have only made me more eager to be in your presence."

"You said it not me." Tristan said, grinning.

Rory scoffed. "What are you doing in here anyway? Shouldn't you be in class right now?"

"I was engaged in other... activities." He replied, grinning lecherously as he leered at her, taking a step closer. "I was letting the lady leave first, when you came in."

"Ugh." Rory muttered, "I should have known. That really is all you ever think about isn't it?"

"Let me tell you one thing Mary, if it's not all you think about, then he's not doing it right." He moved even closer to her, his smirk growing as anger flared up in her eyes.

"God, you're insufferable." Rory snapped, determined not to let his remarks get a rise out of her, that was what he wanted "Do you use your words to compensate to what's lacking in _other_ areas?" She snapped, going for a low blow in an attempt to get him to leave her alone.

To her surprise, he just laughed. "Trust me Mary, I'm not lacking in any sense of the word. I'm not the King of Chilton for nothing."

"Funny, I though Logan was inheriting that title."

A first sign of anger showed in the blondes eyes. "My title is more than secure, I'm more than happy to prove that to you." He said moving closer as she hurriedly backed away.

"Get over yourself." She snapped furiously, "I'll get the books from the other cupboard, missing lessons is better than spending anymore time in here."

"Afraid to be alone with me?" he taunted, his smirk coming back.

"As if." She scoffed, pulling on the door handle to get the door open.

The door didn't budge.

"Arg." She snapped furiously, yanking on the handle hard, and to her horror, it came off in her hand, the door not coming with it.

They both paused for a moment, staring at the brass handle in Rory's hand.

"No..." she whimpered, looking from it to the door, as if it would magically reattach itself.

Tristan chuckled from behind her and she turned. He was now leaning against one of the shelves, watching her closely. "Looks like you're stuck with me Mare."

"You stay over there." She said, holding her hand up in traffic light motion.

"Afraid you won't be able to keep you hands off me?"

Rory shook her head with an angry expression. "You really are the limit."

He just shook his head. "You know, you go on about how much better Huntzburger is than me, but we're really not that different."

She scoffed."You're kidding right?"

"We were raised in the social circles, have the same kind of money, and from what I hear from his reputation, he wasn't exactly committed before he met you."

"He's nothing like you. He wasn't half as bad as you are, he's sweet and funny, and he doesn't just see every girls as a piece of ass. We can talk about anything."

"And you do do that then?"

"Of course, we're in a relationship, that's what it is."

"Funny, I thought it was just sex with the same person, rather than a bunch of different people."

"Well you would think that, that just sums you up entirely." She snapped.

Tristan only smirked back, "So I take it you've told him about us?"

"Us?" Rory blinked, "There is no 'us' Tristan, there never has been."

"Oh come on Mare, don't tell me you don't remember? You, me, a piano bench, Madeline's party..."

Rory looked at him. This was what she had been worried about. It had been so long ago, and Logan hated Tristan so much that she had never wanted to tell him. But with Tristan bringing it up now...

"That was nothing." She stated.

"So you've told him about it."

There was silence.

Tristan smirked. "I'll take that as a no."

"It wasn't worth it, it was nothing. " She repeated.

"Nothing." Tristan smirked, "You know, I don't see you crying when you kiss him or Bag Boy. Does that mean our kiss was more meaningful?"

"More horrific." Rory replied, quickly. "In case you've never noticed Tristan, but it's not normal for a girl to cry in a kiss. Well, not for most people anyway, maybe your abilities aren't as good as you thought."

He brushed off the comment. "Alright then, well how about this; if the kiss was so meaningless, why have you not told him about it?"

"It's not been the right time." She snapped, knowing that she needed to keep him at bay to stop him from telling Logan before she did.

"Trouble in Paradise?"

"We're fine." She glared.

"Ouch, touchy. You know where all this anger is coming from right? Sexual frustration. And judging by the display the other night, it's definitely been a while."

Rory scoffed. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure I do." He said, pushing himself away from the wall. "You said it yourself, I spend a lot of time with girls and I know sex. I can see the signs and you displaying them baby."

"Don't call me baby."

"So you're not denying it then? Don't worry, I can help." He was still moving forward and she backed away from him until her back hit the wall.

"I wouldn't take your _help_ if you were the last man on earth."

"Keep telling yourself that, but you know deep down what you want." He leered at her as his body pressed against hers, his lips leaning down to nibble at her earlobe.

"Get off me Tristan." She hissed, pushing at her shoulders, despite the good feeling his movements were making her feel.

"You don't want me to tell Logan about the kiss right?" he murmured, placing his lips upon her neck and sucking gently.

Something snapped inside Rory, and she shoved him off her.

"How dare you!" she yelled at him, "Are you blackmailing me?" Tristan only smirked, "It's your choice Mare."

"Like I said before, I would sleep with you if you were the last man on earth. I'll tell Logan myself if I have to."

Tristan opened his mouth to reply when movement on the other side of the door sounded, and it suddenly swung open.

"Rory, Tristan." Mr Medina said in surprise, looking at between the two of them, and at their slightly rumpled appearances.

"Oh thank God." Rory said relieved as she rushed out the door "I was getting some books for history when the handle broke."

She turned as Tristan came out behind her, but he was smirking at someone over her shoulder.

Rory glanced around to see Colin, Finn and Logan coming round the corner. Before Rory could say anything Tristan spoke.

"Don't worry, nothing happened." He said, "It's after your first fight you need to watch out, that's when she kissed me before." With a last smirk at Rory, he waltzed off down the corridor, not looking back.

**A/N: Well, that's chapter 18 at long last. I hope you enjoyed it, and it was worth waiting for. I can't tell you how many times I sat down to write but had no idea what to put. However, I seem to have gotten over my writers block, and have a plan for the next chapters. I am determined to get this story done VERY soon. The next chapter will have far more drama, and it shouldn't be long to the end of the story.**

**Thank you so much to all of you who have stuck with me over the years, it has been actual years now, and I really appreciate you all still reading. It was the reviews and alerts that I'm still receiving now that pushed me to write this chapter, and I hope the end of the story meets you expectations.**

**Thanks again, and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Please review to let me know what you think!**

**Sophie xx**


End file.
